t LI BRARY O F CONGRESS, t 

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THE 



DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 



IN THREE PARTS. 



BY/ 

JOHN G. WILSON, 

MINISTER OF THE WORD OF GOD, 

Author of "Redemption in Prophecy," "God All in 
All," &c., &c. 



Banrcafxcov dioa^'/j<;. — Paul. 



PHILADELPHIA : 
DAUGHADAY & BECKER, PUBLISHERS. 

SPRINGFIELD : 

METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 

1871. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, 
by 

JOHN a. WILSON. 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington. 



TO 

THE FIRST INDEPENDENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

OF PHILADELPHIA, 

and to all that in every place 

call on the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, 

both theirs and ours ; 

who, receiving the Holy Scriptures 

as the Divinely authorized Rule of Faith and Practice, 

and touchstone of religious truth, 

prove all things hy their testimony, and 

hold fast that which is good ; 

THIS VOLUME 

is fraternally inscribed 

by one who seeks nothing higher 

than to be partaker with them 

in the grace and fellowship of Christ 

here, 

and joint heir in the glory to be revealed 

hereafter. 



PKEFACE. 



Early in my ministry the subject of baptisms 
engaged my attention, and the result of my in- 
vestigations was given to the public in sixteen 
articles, published in the "Methodist Protest- 
ant." Since then, by reading and conversation, 
I have given it such consideration as seemed 
proper ; and in the study of the Scriptures, all 
along, my mind, by their teachings, has been 
confirmed in most of the views then taken. Cir- 
cumstances have recently occurred requiring me 
to make it the topic of public teaching; and 
what I have taught, with some addition, is 
here presented, and dedicated to all who love 
the truth for the truth's sake. The manner in 
which I have treated the subject, and the train 
of thought involved in the arrangement seemed 
providentially indicated. None, that I know of, 
have pursued the same method, or presented 
the subject in the same light. Some of the views 
may be regarded as novel ; but, it is hoped, not 
the less deserving of consideration on that ac- 
count : for out of the treasury of inspiration the 
instructed scribe should bring forth things new 
as well as old. All I desire is that the reader 
will candidly consider them, and, if convinced of 
their scripturalness, receive them, and by a cor- 
responding attention to the requirements of the 
word of G-od, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 



CONTENTS-PART I. 



Introduction. 
Chapter I.— Relation. 
Three Baptisms.— With water. 

With the Spirit. 
With fire. 
Water baptism in Hymnology. 
Christ not put on by water baptism — 
(1.) Because it is only outward and ceremonial; 
(2.) Because those already baptized with water are 

exhorted to put on Christ; 
(3.) Because Simon the sorcerer having been bap- 
tized with water, did not put on Christ; 
(4.) Because water baptism is not an essential of 

true religion; 
(5.) Because water baptism is not of saving efficacy. 

Chapter II. — Relation Continued. 
Baptism of the Spirit. 
Mr. Challen's hypothesis that it was restricted to two 

occasions, and never repeated. 
Refutation of that hypothesis. 
Diversity of spiritual gifts. 
E xtraor dinary . 
Ministerial. 
Moral. 

Chapter III.— Relation Continued. 
Relative importance of the baptisms according to 
the testimony of Scripture. 

(1.) 1 Corinthians i. 12-17. 

(2.) 1 Peter iii. 21. 

(3.) Hebrew x. 22. 
Meaning of Putting on Christ, &c. 

(1.) Galatians iii. 27. 

(2.) Romans vi. 1-11. 

(3.) Colossians ii. 10-12. 

(4.) Ephesians iv. 4^6. 

Chapter IY.— Character and Deportment. 
To put on Christ is to become a true Christian, &o. 
(1.) Romans vi. 12, 13, &c. 
(2.) 1 Corinthians iii. 16, &c. 
(3.) Galatians iii. 3, &c. 
(4.) Ephesians iv 17-24, &c. 
(5.) Philippians iii. 3, &c. 
(6.) Colossians iii. 12-15, &c. 
(7.) 1 Thessalonians iv. 7, 8. 

(iii) 



Contents. 



PART II. 



Introduction. 

Chapter I.— General Exposition. 
Evidences of being born of God. 
Witnesses ; Spirit, Water, Blood. 
Reference to the Crucifixion of Christ. 
The blood and water which flowed from his pierced 

side, and their witness. 
The proof of his voluntary death ; 
And that his death was an atonement for our sins. 
The object of his incarnation. 
Witness of the Spirit in the Scriptures. 
Witness of the Spirit in them that believe. 
The design that they might have eternal life. 
Preparation for eternal glory. 

Chapter II.— Particular Applications. 
General Remarks. 

Of the Water, Spirit, and Blood. 

Of fire— meaning of the term Matt. iii. 11. 

Tripartite nature of man. 
1. — Application to Jesus Christ. 

His baptism with water ; 

Not unto repentance ; 

Not for an example ; 

But for consecration to priesthood. 

His baptism with the Spirit. 
2.— Application to believers in Christ 

Their baptism with water. 

Their baptism with the Spirit. 

Born of water and of the Spirit. 

Their baptism with fire or blood, 

Only believers able to endure it. 

Their anointing to be kings and priests with Christ. 



Contents. 

PAET III. 



Introduction. 

Chapter I.— The Commission. 
The Mosaic dispensation. 
The Christian dispensation. 
The work enjoined. 
Other Baptisms. 

1 Corinthians x. 1, 2. 

Hebrews ix. 9-14. 

Numbers xix. 1-22. 

Mark vii. 1-8. 

Luke xi. 37, 38. 
Conclusion from the same. 

Chapter II.— Baptism of John. 
Differed from Proselytical baptism. 
Was reformatory. 
Baptism of Jesus. 
Baptizing at Enon. 
Purification. 

Jesus baptizing in Judea. 
Results. 
Water baptism, as instituted by Christ, simply ink 

tiatory. 
Its advantage. 
Embraces all nations. 
Parents and Children. 

Chapter III.— Baptism of Children. 
"Of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
Suitable to be made disciples. 
Children members of the Israelitish Church. 
The baptizing at the Pentecost. 
Baptism of households. 

Lydia and her household. 

The jailer at Philippi, &c. 

Household of Stephanas. 
The sameness of the covenant of grace under all dis- 
pensations. 
Defended from ridicule. 

Chapter IV.— Divers Baptisms. 
Meaning of Baptizo— Bapto. Examples. 
Baptizo. 

1 Corinthians xv. 29. 
Baptism of the Spirit. 
Baptism of the Samaritans. 
Baptism of the Eunuch. 
Baptism of Saul. 
Baptism of Cornelius. 

Circumstances in all cases adverse to immersion. 
The True Disciple. 



Contents. 



ADDENDA. 

Letters. — 
I.— To one who had become convinced that immersion 
was not the only mode, and adult "believers were 
not the only subjects of baptism, as commanded 
by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 

II.— On Trine Immersion, in a Letter to a Friend who 
sent me Thurman's Tract on that subject, with a 
request to meet the author in public debate. 

Why I Baptize Infants. 

Why I Baptize by Sprinkling or Pouring. 

Baptisms— A Hymn. 



DOCTKIKE OF BAPTISMS. 



PAKT I. 

Putting on Christ, 



THE 

Doctrine of Baptisms. 



PAET I. 
PUTTING ON CHRIST. 

IKTEODUCTIOIsr. 

True religion has both spirit and form — prin- 
ciples and ceremonies. The spirit of true reli- 
gion is at all times, and through all ages, substan- 
tially the same ; the form is varied according to 
circumstances and the requirements of the ages. 
The principles of true religion are immutable ; 
the ceremonies are changeable. The spirit and 
principles are termed essentials ; the form and 
ceremonies are deemed non-essentials. Faith, 
without which it is impossible to please God, is 
indispensable ; but the modes of its manifesta- 
tion change with every succeeding dispensation 
of grace. The worship of God in spirit and in 
truth is essential to acceptance with him in all 
dispensations ; but the rites of worship are 
varied according to his pleasure and the necessi- 
ties and conveniences of his people. And yet 

[9] 



10 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

the tendency in the human mind has been, and 
still is, to neglect essential principles, and exalt 
circumstantial rites ; to rest in the form without 
attaining to the spirit of religion : and, withal, 
to degenerate into a hypocritical observance of 
ceremonials, while their hearts are unsanctified, 
and their lives unholy, if not grossly wicked and 
immoral. As an example of this, we find the 
following charge against the Jewish people in 
the days of Isaiah: "Hear the word of the 
Lord — To what purpose is the multitude of your 
sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord ; I am full of 
the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed 
beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, 
or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to 
appear before me, who hath required this at 
your hands to tread my courts? Bring no more 
vain oblations : incense is an abomination unto 
me; the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling 
of assemblies I can not away with ; it is iniquity, 
even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and 
your appointed feasts my soul hateth : they are 
a trouble unto me ; I am weary to bear them." 
Isa. i. 10-14. And the reason these religious 
rites, ordained of God himself, were so displeas- 
ing to him, was that the people were " laden with 
iniquity, a seed of evil doers ;" seeking to com- 
pensate for the sinfulness of their lives by the 
abundance of their sacrifices, and the strictness 
of their ritualism. And at the time of Christ's 
advent they were strict in paying tithes of mint, 
annise and cummin, but neglected the weightier 
matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. 



Putting on Christ 11 

Even after the introduction of the gospel dispen- 
sation there were among the believing Jews some 
who said, that except the Gentiles were circum- 
cised and kept the law of Moses, they could not 
be saved. But in all these cases this ritualistic 
tendency is condemned by the word of G-od as 
subversive of true piety : and repentence, faith 
and holiness are insisted upon as necessary to 
acceptance with God. 

In this age of sectarian denominationalism we 
meet with the same thing. Forms and ceremo- 
nies are, with some, of more account than faith 
and good works : and they array themselves in 
the external apparel of an ecclesiastical ritual, 
as a substitute for the internal robe of righteous- 
ness which is by faith in Christ. Others go not 
so far ; but each sect has its special ritualism, 
more pertinaciously inculcated and strictly en- 
forced than " righteousness, peace and joy in the 
Holy Spirit." And it is not surprising that the 
ordinances of the Christian religion — baptism 
and the Lord's supper — simple as they are in 
their nature and design, as instituted by Jesus 
Christ, have been encumbered with ecclesiastical 
dogmas and superstitious mummeries ; and that 
the former should have been substituted for re- 
generation and the latter for sanctification. 
Against all such perversions of the truth, we 
oppose the apostolic injunction, "But put ye 
on the Lord Jesus Christ ; and make not provi- 
sion for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof." 
Kom. xiii. 14 ; and propose to consider what it 
means. 



12 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTER I. 

Tn Regaj\d to Relation. 



This brings before us the baptismal question 
in this connection, inasmuch as Paul says, "For 
as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, 
have put on Christ." Gal. hi. 27. And hence 
it has been inferred by some that the way of 
putting on Christ is by water baptism. This 
would be a necessary inference, if water baptism 
were the only baptism mentioned in the Scrip- 
tures as belonging to the Christian refigion. 
But we find mention made of two other baptisms, 
with which the Lord Jesus baptizes his people. 
John the Baptist, in his preaching, said to the 
people, "I indeed baptize you with water unto 
repentance ; but he that cometh after me is 
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy 
to bear ; he shall baptize you with the Holy 
Spirit and with fire." Matt. hi. ii. Here are 
three distinct baptisms spoken of, and we shall 
find them all in connection with the Christian 
religion. It is to these baptisms, I think, Paul 
refers, ITeb. vi. 2, by the phrase "doctrine of 



Putting on Christ. 13 

baptisms," for he reckons them among the prin- 
ciples of the doctrine of Christ, or baptisms be- 
longing to the Christian system. The baptism 
of water is commanded by Christ, to be adminis- 
tered by his apostles, in making disciples of all 
nations, as we find by their commission: "And 
Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations ; bap- 
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you." Mat. xxviii. 18-20. And this is 
the authority by which every minister of the 
gospel still professes to act, in making disciples 
by baptism. 

But "in the last day, that great day of the 
feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that 
believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out 
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that 
believe on him should receive : for the Holy Spirit 
was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not 
yet glorified)" John. vii. 37-39. And again he 
said to his disciples: "And I will pray the Father, 
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he 
may abide with you for ever. Even the Spirit of 
truth." John. xiv. 16, 17. And again, "Never- 
theless I tell you the truth : it is expedient for 
you that I go away; for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I de- 
part, I will send him unto you." John. xvi. 7. 



14 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

And again, just before his ascension, he said to 
them: "And behold, I send the promise of my 
Father upon you ; but tarry ye in Jerusalem, 
until ye be endued with power from on high." 
Luke xxiv. 49. " And, being assembled together 
with them, commanded them that they should 
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the pro- 
mise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have 
heard of me. For John truly baptized with 
water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit 
not many days hence." Acts i. 5. " And when 
the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were 
all with one accord in one place, and suddenly 
there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing 
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
they were sitting. And there appeared unto 
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them. And they were all filled 
with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with 
other tongues, as the spirit gave them utter- 
ance." Acts. ii. 1-4. And Peter said to the 
multitude : " This is that which was spoken of 
by the prophet Joel ; and it shall come to pass in 
the last days (saith God), I will pour out of my 
Spirit upon all fiesh, " &c. ' 'And it shall come to 
pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of 
the Lord shall be saved." Acts. ii. 16-21. 
"Kepent and be baptized every one of you, in 
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; 
for the promise is unto you and to your children, 
and to all that are afar off, even as many as the 
Lord our God shall call. " Acts. ii. 38-39. And 



Putting on Christ. 15 

afterwards, when he was preaching to Cornelius 
and his friends, " the Holy Spirit fell on all them 
that heard the word ; and they of the circum- 
cision, which believed, were astonished, as many 
as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles 
also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. 
For they heard them speak with tongues and 
magnify God. Then answered Peter, can any 
man forbid water, that these should not be bap- 
tized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well 
as we? And he commanded them to be baptized 
in the name of the Lord." Acts x. 44-48. 

In these passages we have the testimony of 
the Scriptures to the baptism of the Spirit, and 
the inauguration of the same in being poured out 
on the Jews and Gentiles alike. And the work of 
the Spirit was to be that of a Comforter in the 
personal absence of Christ, to bring his words to 
remembrance for their edification and comfort, 
to reprove the world of sin and of righteousness 
and of judgment, and to guide believers into all 
truth. 

The baptism of fire is doubtless illustrated in 
Mat. iii. 12, where John says of Jesus, " Whose 
fan is his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his 
floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but 
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable 
fire," in which he is represented as a winnower 
of grain, in separating all sin and iniquity from 
his people, utterly consuming their sins by fiery 
trials and afflictions, and so fitting them for the 
kingdom of heaven. I am aware that some 
interpret this of the destruction of the wicked 



16 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

who are to be cast into the lake of fire; but so it 
agrees not with John's discourse, nor with other 
scriptures bearing on this point. The same 
thought here expressed is set forth by a similar 
figure in Mai. iii. 1-3. "Behold I will send my 
messenger (John) and he shall prepare the way 
before me : and the Lord whom we seek (Christ) 
shall suddenly come to his temple, even the mes- 
senger of the covenant whom ye delight in: be- 
hold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But 
who may abide the day of his coming? and who 
shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a 
refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap : and he shall 
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall 
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold 
and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an 
offering in righteousness." This is a prediction 
concerning John and Christ, and from it John 
appears to deduce the doctrine that Jesus would 
baptize with fire, purging his floor, the human 
mind, separating their sins from his people, con- 
suming their sins by his fiery baptism, and so 
fitting them for his kingdom. But what does 
the baptism of fire mean? The Scriptures will 
teach us. In Luke xii. 50, Jesus says: "But I 
have a baptism to be baptized with; and how 
am I straitened till it be accomplished." This 
was not water baptism, for that had already been 
accomplished when he was baptized of John; 
nor was it the baptism of the Spirit, for that had 
already been given to him without measure ; it 
was then the baptism of fire, and meant his suf- 
ferings which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. 



Putting on Christ. 17 

And this is the baptism of fire with which he 
baptizes his people, as we learn from Matt. xx. 
22, 23, where Jesns said to James and John, 
who requested to sit, the one on his right hand 
and the other on his left in his kingdom, " Are 
ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, 
and to be baptized with the baptism that I am 
baptized with? They said, We are able. And 
he said, Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be 
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
with." And this baptism was spoken of as 
necessary in view of the glories of the kingdom 
to which they aspired; and concerning which 
we are told that if we suffer with Jesus we shall 
also reign with him: and that our light affliction, 
which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a 
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 
and that through much tribulation we enter into 
the kingdom of God. This is what is meant by 
the baptism of fire. And the words of Jesus to 
James and John, import that the highest honors 
of his kingdom will be given to those who drink 
deepest of his cup, and are most severely bap- 
tized with his baptism. 

John baptized with water only. And Jesus, 
after his resurrection, commanded his apostles to 
go and disciple all nations, baptizing them into 
the name of the .Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit: and this was to be done with 
w^ater. But Jesus himself, exalted and glorified 
as a Prince and a Saviour, baptizes with the Holy 
Spirit and with fire. 

Of these thiee baptisms, the baptism of water 
2 



18 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

is of the least importance, being simply the ordi- 
nance whereby we are made disciples of Jesus 
outwardly; but which can not make any one a 
disciple inwardly — that is, a true disciple. The 
true disciple is one who is not only baptized with 
water, but who learns of Christ and observes all 
things whatsoever he hath commanded; as Christ 
said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye 
my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the 
truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 
viii. 31, 32. 

Jesus repeatedly assured the people who came 
to his ministry, that except a man deny himself 
and take up his cross and follow him, he could 
not be his disciple. But water baptism is neither 
self-denial, nor cross bearing, nor following 
Christ. It is a simple ordinance of discipleship 
in its outward manifestation. It is an initiation 
to discipleship in its external relation: 

In the Etymnology of some Churches water 
baptism is spoken of as constituting all the requi- 
sites of true discipleship. It is called — 

"The Lord's appointed way (to) fulfill all 
righteousness;" 

" Treading in his footstep " and " maintaining 
his cause;" 

"Dying, rising and reigning with him," " fol- 
lowing him;" 

" Being baptized into his death, and raised 
and glorified with him:" 

" Taking the cross and following Jesus in th6 
way;" 

"Tracing the path the great Eedeemer trod, 



Putting on Christ. 19 

and through the liquid grave following the 
Son of God;" 

"The pledge of the resurrection — and of the 
pardon of sin;" 

" Being baptized into Christ's death, and put- 
ting off the body of sin;" 

The following verses, perhaps, concentrate the 
idea as fully as any: 

"With Christ we share a mystic grave, 

With Christ we buried lie ; 
But 'tis not in the darksoine cave, 

By mournful Calvary ; 
The pure and "bright "baptismal flood, 

Entombs our nature's stain; 
New creatures from the cleansing wave, 

With Christ we rise again." 

By such language water baptism is made to 
assume an importance nowhere attached to it in 
the word of G-od. Indeed it is characterized as 
the great work of salvation itself, and is incul- 
cated as the whole of Christianity. It substi- 
tutes the Spirit's baptism; and dispenses with the 
baptism of fire. Against such unscriptural and 
dangerous teaching I enter my humble protest 
and proceed to show that 

CHRIST IS NOT PUT ON BY WATER BAPTISM. 

First, Because, from its very nature, it is only 
outward and ceremonial, whereas putting on 
Christ is an inward and spiritual work. What 
Paul says, Bom. ii. 28, 29, respecting the Jew is 
applicable also to the Christian. "For he is not 
a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that 
circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But 



20 The Doctrine of Baptisms, 

he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circum- 
cision is that of the heart in the spirit and not 
in the letter; whose praise is not of men, hut of 
God. " So he is not a Christian who is one out- 
wardly; but he is a Christian who is one in- 
wardly; and baptism is not that which is outward 
in putting away the filth of the flesh, but that- 
which is in the spirit, the testimony of a good 
conscience. Water baptism can no more make a 
true Christian, than circumcision could make a 
true Jew. It is not in the nature of outward 
ordinances to sanctify the heart; and, therefore, 
Christ is not put on by water baptism. 

Second, Because those to whom Paul wrote 
his epistles had already been baptized with 
water, and yet he tells them to put on Christ. 
All must admit that the members of the Church 
at Rome had been baptized with water. This 
was their initiation into church relation. Yet 
there were reasons to suppose that some of them 
had not put on Christ; for he exhorts them to 
do it, saying, ' ' But put ye on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to 
fulfill the lusts thereof." Rom. xiii. 14. But if 
Christ is put on by water baptism, they had 
alread}^ put on Christ, and it was incongruous to 
exhort them to do it again, seeing that water 
baptism is not to be repeated. He does not, 
therefore, exhort them to be baptized a second 
time with water, by exhorting them to put on 
Christ. The exhortation relates to something 
else, and hence it is evident that Christ is not 
put on by water baptism. 



Putting on CJirist. 21 

Again, in his letter to the Galatians, he says, 
" For as many of you as have been baptized into 
Christ, have put on Christ." Now, if water 
baptism is being baptized into Christ and putting 
on Christ, then, inasmuch as the members of 
the churches of Galatia had all been baptized 
with water, they had all been baptized into 
Christ, and had put on Christ. But Paul says, 
"As many of you," which implies that not all of 
them had been baptized into Christ, though all 
had been baptized with water. It is not water 
baptism, therefore, of which he speaks when he 
uses the term " baptized into Christ." Paul 
knew that *>ouie of them had not put on Christ, 
for their conduct was not such as became the 
gospel of Christ. Moreover, some of them who 
had " begun in the Spirit " were " removed from 
him that called them into the grace of Christ 
unto another gospel," and were seeking to be 
justified by the works of the law; and the apos- 
tle reminds them that they "had received the 
Spirit by the hearing of faith," as Cornelius and 
his friends had, and that " they were the children 
of God by faith in Jesus Christ," being baptized 
into Christ by the Spirit, and so "born again, not 
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the 
word of God which liveth and abideth for ever," 
and so they had "put on Christ," at first, in 
that spiritual baptism. And now he says, " My 
little children, of whom I travail in birth again, 
until Christ be formed in you. This I say then, 
Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the 
lusts of the flesh." He could travail in birth 



22 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

with them again, in a re-baptism of the Spirit, 
but not in a re-baptism of water. And the 
phrase, "Walk in the Spirit," is tantamount to 
"Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ," for then 
they " should not fulfill the lusts of the flesh," or 
' i make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts 
thereof." Hence it is shown that Christ is not 
put on by water baptism. 

Third, Because Simon, the sorcerer, being 
baptized with water, did not put on Christ: for 
" Simon himself believed also; and when he was 
baptized he continued with Philip, and won- 
dered, beholding the miracles and signs which 
were done." And yet he soon gave evidence 
that he had " neither part nor lot in the matter, 
for his heart was not right in the sight of God." 
Acts viii. 5-23. Simon believed the gospel and 
was baptized with water; but he did not thereby 
put on Christ. He remained still " in the gall 
of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity." He 
did just what some modern theorists say is all that 
is required to be done in order to obtain remis- 
sion of sins, and to be incorporated into Christ, 
and what they say is putting on Christ; and yet 
he neither obtained forgiveness of sins, nor did 
he put on Christ. He was incorporated into the 
professing Church, but not into Christ. And 
hence it is evident that Christ is not put on by 
water baptism. 

Fourth, Because Paul's language, 1 Cor. i. 12 
-18, indicates that water baptism is not an 
essential of true religion. "Now this I say, 
that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and 



Putting on Christ. 23 

I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. 
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? 
or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I 
thank God I baptized none of you but Crispus 
and Gaius; lest any should say that I had bap- 
tized in mine own name. And I baptized also 
the household of Stephanus; besides I know not 
whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent 
me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not 
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ 
should be made of non-effect. For the preaching 
of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but 
unto us which are saved, it is the power of God." 
Now if water baptism was being baptized into 
Christ and putting on Christ, do you think Paul 
would have so devoutly thanked God that he 
had baptized none except the few he mentions. 
He does not boast, as some modern sectarists do, 
of the number he had baptized. He does not 
say that he buried such and such with Christ in 
the baptismal water. On the contrary, he says 
Christ sent him not to baptize. Did Christ, 
then, omit the most important part of the apos- 
tolic work when he commissioned Paul? By no 
means. For baptism is only the initiatory ordi- 
nance of discipleship. It saves none. But it 
hath pleased God through the foolishness of 
preaching to save them that believe. For the 
preaching of the cross is to them that are saved 
the power of God. In the preaching of Christ 
crucified the mind of the hearer is brought into 
contact with the truth, which is made the regen- 
erating and saving instrumentality to them that 



24 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

believe. But water baptism is not a saving in- 
strumentality; and hence Christ is not put on 
by water baptism. 

Fifth, Because Peter says that the baptism 
which saves is not the " putting away of the 
filth of the flesh;" but the "answer of a good 
conscience toward God." His language is, " For 
it is better if the will of G-od be so, that ye suffer 
for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ 
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being 
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the 
Spirit; by which also he went and preached to 
the spirits in prison; which sometime were dis- 
obedient, when once the long suffering of God 
waited in the days of Noah, while the Ark was 
a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, 
were saved by water. The like figure whereunto 
even baptism, doth also now save us (not the 
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the 
answer of a good conscience toward God, ) by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ." I Pet. hi. 17-21. 

Here, by " putting away the filth of the flesh " 
is meant water baptism, and he says it is not 
that which saves us — it is not that which is 
represented by the salvation of Noah and his 
family in the Ark. Noah and his family were 
an election, saved out of the antediluvian age, 
saved from the perdition of the ungodly. They 
represented the true and elect Church of Christ 
which shall be saved out of all ages, and saved 
from the perdition of the ungodly at the coming 
of Christ. But thousands of the professing 



Putting on Christ. 25 

Church, baptized with water, will not be so saved. 
It is another baptism which saves — " the answer 
of a good conscience toward God " — that is, the 
baptism of the Holy Spirit. For as putting 
away the filth of the flesh is the effect of water 
baptism, so the answer of a good conscience 
toward God is the effect of the Spirit's baptism; 
by which Christ's sufferings for sins and his re- 
surrection from the dead is made effectual to our 
regeneration and sanctification. Hence Christ 
is not put on by water baptism, which is an out- 
ward ordinance, for the initiation of persons into 
the community of Christ's disciples, but which 
does not possess any regenerating or sanctifying 
power upon the mind and heart. It has its use, 
and should be devoutly attended to, but should 
not be substituted for the baptism of the Spirit, 
and made essential unto salvation. 



26 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTEE H. 

Baptism of the Sfii^it. 



The baptism of the Spirit is by some supposed 
to be restricted to two occasions — that of the Pen- 
tecost, and the subsequent admission of the Gen- 
tiles into the church at the house of Cornelius, 
in Csesarea. Mr. Challen, in his treatise "Bap- 
tism in Spirit and in Fire," page 34, says: " There 
never has been but one Pentecost under the 
reign of the Messiah, and it never has been re- 
peated; — the prayer is often heard for a pente- 
costal shower — a pentecostal baptism — but this 
prayer has never been heard." He means that 
it has frequently been offered, but never an- 
swered. Again page 91. " Another reference 
to the baptism in the Spirit is found in the case 
of Cornelius and friends, as found in Acts x., xi., 
in the introduction of the gospel to the Gentiles; 
but as the same formulas are used in this in- 
stance — the same principles of interpretation 
hold good." Then page 94, "The two cases are 
analagous — both were a baptism in the Holy 
Spirit . " " These are the only distinct references 
found in the New Testament to a Baptism in the 
Holy Spirit. It was designed to introduce the 



Putting on Christ 27 

kingdom of heaven, first to the Jews, and 
secondly to the Gentiles. And as this could be 
done but once, there was no need of its repeti- 
tion. In regard to the two great divisions known 
in the world, Jews and Gentiles, a baptism in 
the Spirit was needed only once, to admit, gen- 
erically, these two portions of our race to the 
privileges of the reign of heaven." And in his 
exposition of 1 Cor. xii. 13, page 95, he says: 
" By one Spirit the Jews, (as on the day of Pen- 
tecost,) and the Gentiles, (as in the case of Corne- 
lius and family,) were all immersed into one 
body — the Church. And this oneness of baptism 
for these two divisions of the race, introduced 
them into one great community — the kingdom 
of heaven; and as the union was perfect, there 
was no need of its repetition." And page 97: 
"We have seen that the baptism in the Spirit 
was administered only once for the Jews and 
once for the Gentiles, — and never, in the true 
sense in which it is known, repeated." Now if 
this be so, then there never has been any baptism 
of the Spirit except on those two occasions; and 
it would be extremely fanatical to expect and 
pray for such a baptism; and any professed ex- 
perience of such a baptism is a delusion. Let 
us see, then, whether this position, held by Mr. 
Challen and others, will stand the test of the 
word of God; or whether it is not a perverted 
view of the case. To the law and the testimony, 
if they speak not according to this, there is no 
light in them. 
And, first, What is the baptism of the Spirit? 



28 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

In what does it consist? We shall seek an an- 
swer to this inquiry in the promise of the Spirit's 
baptism, and the narrative of the only two occa- 
sions admitted by Mr. Challen to have been bap- 
tisms of the Spirit. According to Peter, the 
promise of this baptism is found in Joel ii. 28, 
29. For he said to the multitude: " This is that 
which was spoken by the prophet Joel; and it 
shall come to pass in the last days, (saith G-od,) 
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and 
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 
and your young men shall see visions, and your 
old men shall dream dreams: And on my ser- 
vants and on my handmaidens, I will pour 
out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall 
prophesy." This Jesus calls the " promise of my 
Father," and of which he had spoken to his dis- 
ciples as the Comforter whom the Father would 
send in his name. And the realization was that 
on the day of Pentecost, they were all filled with 
the Holy Spirit," and that Cornelius and his 
friends also " received the Holy Spirit.^ Here 
we learn, then, that the baptism of the Spirit con- 
sists in receiving the Holy Spirit and being filled 
with the Holy Spirit. In this view Mr. Challen 
concurs; of the circumstances attending the bap- 
tism on the Pentecost he says, page 65, " Neither 
the sound out of heaven — nor as it descended to 
earth, nor as it filled the house, — was the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit. " And page 66: " These 
tongues of fire, sitting on the heads of the apos- 
tles, must not be regarded as the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit. " And they were all filled with the 



Putting on Christ 29 

Holy Spirit. This, and this only, was the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit." So far, then, we are 
agreed. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is being 
filled with the Spirit, no matter what may be 
the attendant circumstances, whether accom- 
panied with the sound as of a rushing mighty 
wind, and the appearance of cloven tongues like 
as of fire, as on the Pentecost, or without sound 
as of wind, or tongues as of fire, as in the house 
of Cornelius. In both these instances the gift of 
speaking with other tongues, that is, in different 
languages, previously unknown to the speakers, 
was conferred upon the subjects of this baptism. 
But this miraculous endowment was not the bap- 
tism of the Spirit, though it was an evidence 
that they had received the Spirit in this extraor- 
dinary manifestation. The baptism of the Spirit 
is to receive the Holy Spirit and to be filled with 
the Spirit. 

I shall now inquire whether this baptism was 
administered only once for the Jews, and once 
for the Gentiles, and never repeated; or whether, 
in his zeal for the peculiar views of his sect, Mr. 
Challen has not mistaken the Divine record. 
" Being filled with the Holy Spirit " is being bap- 
tized with the Holy Spirit, that and nothing else; 
so says Mr. Challen, and in this I agree with him. 
"Well, then, if we find that on other occasions, be- 
sides the two adduced by him, believers in Christ 
were " filled with the Holy Spirit," it will follow 
that they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, 
whether it be called a baptism or not, and whether 



30 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

it be attended with the extraordinary manifes- 
tations or not. 

The first testimony we adduce is found in the 
account of the cure of a lame man by Peter and 
John in Acts iii. , iv. We know not how long it 
was, but certainly a number of days after the 
Pentecost, Peter and John were apprehended by 
the Jewish rulers and questioned concerning the 
cure, and nothing being found against them 
which would render them liable to punishment, 
they were dismissed; upon which they went to 
their own company and reported: and when they 
had prayed, the place where they were assembled 
together, was shaken; " and they were all filled 
with the Holy Spirit." Acts iv. 31. That is, they 
were baptized with the Spirit, "and they spake 
the word of God with boldness." This was evi- 
dently a repetition of the Spirit's baptism, and 
was designed to impart to them greater boldness 
in the ministration of the word. Our second 
reference is Acts viii. 14-17. " Now when the 
apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that 
Samaria had received the word of God, they sent 
unto them Peter and John: who when they were 
come down, prayed for them, that they might 
receive the Holy Spirit; (for as yet he was fallen 
upon none of them: only they were baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus. ) Then laid they their 
hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit," 
that is, they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. 
Our third reference is Acts ix. 17, where it is 
stated that Ananias being sent to Saul, after his 
arrival in Damascus, " went his way and entered 



Putting on Christ. 31 

into the house; and putting his hands on him, 
said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that 
appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, 
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy 
sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit," that is, 
be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And in Acts 
xiii. 9, it is said that Saul was filled with the Holy 
Spirit* 7 ' He had received that Divine baptism. 
The fourth reference is Acts xiii. 52, where it is 
recorded that the disciples at Antioch "were 
filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit," conse- 
quently were baptized with the Spirit. Our fifth 
reference is Acts xix. 1-6, where we are told that 
Paul found certain disciples in Ephesus to whom 
he said, " Have ye received the Holy Spirit since 
ye believed?" a question which implies that be- 
lievers were uniformly baptized with the Spirit. 
And they answered, We have not so much as 
heard whether there be any "Holy Spirit." 
And he said, "Unto what then were ye bap- 
tized?" And they replied, "Unto John's bap- 
tism." Then Paul said, " John verily baptized 
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the 
people, that they should believe on him, which 
should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ. 
And when they heard this, they were baptized in 
the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul 
had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit 
came on them, and they spake with tongues and 
prophesied." Here the distinction between the 
dispensation of John and the gospel dispensa- 
tion is clearly defined. John baptized with 
water only, and called upon the people to repent 



32 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

of their sins, and believe on the coming One, who 
should also baptize with the Holy Spirit and with 
fire. Jesus Christ not only instituted water bap- 
tism as the initiatory ordinance for making dis- 
ciples of all nations, but he baptizes all true and 
obedient disciples with the Holy Spirit, which 
was first poured out on the day of Pentecost, and 
continued to be poured out, to fall upon and to 
be given to all who believed in and obeyed him; 
and must continue to be given to such to the 
end of the age. 

The circumstances attending this baptism were 
not always the same; but the baptism itself was 
always the same. It was " receiving the Holy 
Spirit," and "being filled with the Holy Spirit." 
And this, as we find by the testimony, was re- 
peated over and over again, at sundry times and 
divers places, whether it were one or many who 
were the subjects. And this was in accordance 
with the promise of the Father as quoted by 
Peter from the prophecy of Joel; from which we 
learn that, in the gospel dispensation, he would 
pour out his Spirit upon all, male and female, 
young and old. And hence Peter said to the 
multitude who came together, " Repent and be 
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus 
Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for the promise 
is to you and to your children, and to all that 
are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God 
shall call." Acts ii. 38, 39. This shows the 
universality of the promised baptism; it u is to 
you, and to your children," that is, to the Jews 



Putting on Christ. S3 

who with their offspring were already in cove- 
nant with God ; and to all that are afar off, that 
is, to the Gentiles, even as many as the Lord 
our God shall call. There was to be no limit to 
this grace, either by nationality or condition. 

We all understand what is meant by praying 
for a pentecostal baptism. It is not that the 
circumstances of that occasion — the sound from 
heaven and the cloven tongues — may be re- 
peated ; but that we may be filled with the Holy 
Spirit. Mr. Ohallen says that such a "prayer 
has never been heard." But in two at least ot 
the instances I have cited, the baptism of the 
Spirit was preceded by prayer, and came in an- 
swer to prayer. In the first case, the company 
of the disciples, after hearing the recital of Petei 
and John, "lifted up their voice to God with one 
accord" and prayed thus: "Grant unto thy 
servants that with all boldness they may speak 
thy word," &c. " And when they had prayed, 
the place was shaken, and they were all filled 
with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word 
of God with boldness. " Acts iv. 24-31. In the 
second case, Peter and John prayed for the dis- 
ciples at Samaria, that they might receive the 
Holy Spirit. Then laid they their hands on 
them and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 
viii. 15-17. In these instances we have the 
prayer for the baptism of the Spirit, and the 
direct answer to the prayer, showing that such 
prayer has been heard and answered. But we 
not only have these examples to encourage us 
in offering such prayers; we have the command 

o 



34 The Doctrine of Baptisms 

of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, -who 
says, " Ask, and it shall be given you;" for "if 
ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto 
your children, how much more shall your 
Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask him." Luke xi. 9, 13. And an indi- 
vidual believer or a church of believers may ask 
and receive. It is, therefore, proper not only to 
pray for the Holy Spirit, but to pray to be filled 
with the Spirit, for Paul prayed for the saints at 
Ephesus, that they might be strengthened with 
power by God's Spirit in the inner man, — and 
filled with all the fullness of God. Eph. iii. 16- 
19. And he tells them to be filled with the Spirit, 
v. 18, which implies that they should pray for it. 
Surely we would be better Christians if we 
realized more fully our need of the Spirit, and 
prayed more sincerely and fervently for even a 
pentecostal baptism. 

Mr. Challen further says, that the baptism of 
the Spirit " was designed to introduce the king- 
dom of heaven, first to the Jews and secondly to 
the Gentiles," and u this was needed but once to 
admit, generically, these two portions of our 
race to the privileges of the reign of heaven," 
"and as the union was perfect, there was no 
need of its repetition." But where did he learn 
that this was the design of the baptism of the 
Spirit? Certainly not in the Holy Scriptures. 
The promise, as quoted from Joel, mentions no 
such design. It speaks of revelations and pro- 
phesying as the end of this baptism. The words 
of Jesus reveal no such design. He speaks of 



Putting on Christ. 35 

the Spirit as a Comforter, and says, He shall 
bring to your remembrance whatsoever I have 
said unto you — and shall guide you into all 
truth — and, (through them or by their preach- 
ing,) convince the world of sin, of righteousness 
and judgment. And Paul, in his epistle, teaches 
no such design. He tells us that it is the work 
of the Spirit to quicken us to a new and spiritual 
life — to bear witness with our spirits that we are 
the children of G-od — to help our infirmities — to 
make intercession for us with groanings which 
can not be uttered — to reveal to us the things 
God hath prepared for them that love him — to 
shed abroad the love of God in our hearts — to 
give us access to God through Christ — to sanctify 
us by the truth— to seal us unto the day of 
eternal redemption. These are the saving opera- 
tions of the Holy Spirit — indispensable in every 
age, and far more important than the miraculous 
gifts which accompanied the baptism of the 
Spirit in the apostolic age. But the endowment 
of the apostles and primitive Christians with 
these extraordinary gifts was also one design of 
the Spirit's baptism. 

" Now, (says Paul, 1 Cor. xii. 4-11,) there are 
diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And 
there are differences of administrations, but the 
same Lord. And there are diversities of opera- 
tions .but it is the same God which worketh all in 
all. feut the manifestation of the Spirit is given 
to every man to profit withal. For to one is 
given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to an- 
other, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 



36 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, 
the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to an- 
other, the working of miracles; to another, pro- 
phecy; to another, discerning of spirits; to 
another, divers kinds of tongnes; to another, the 
interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh 
that one and self-same Spirit, dividing to every 
man severally as he will." And in accordance 
with these gifts, "God hath set some in the 
Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, 
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts 
of healing, helps, governments, diversities of 
tongues." 1 Cor. xii. 28. These various gifts 
and corresponding offices were not conferred 
upon all; but were, as far as given, necessary at 
that time for the growth of the Church, and 
designed for the benefit of the whole body of 
believers. And though it were proper to covet 
or earnestly desire the best gifts, there was a 
more excellent way. The highest development 
of Christianity was not in these miraculous and 
ministerial endowments; but in love — the very 
essence of true religion — without which all else 
is worth nothing. For prophecies shall fail, 
tongues shall cease, and knowledge shall vanish 
away; but love never faileth. The abiding 
principles of Christianity are faith, hope and 
love; but the greatest of these is love. 

The extraordinary gifts attending the baptism 
of the Spirit in the apostolic age, were designed 
specially for that age in the introduction i of 
Christianity, until the volume of inspiration was 
completed, and the Church was furnished with a 



Putting on Christ. 37 

perfect rule of faith and practice. If they had 
been necessary to the subsequent progress of 
Christianity, they would, doubtless, have been 
continued. They belonged to the period of de- 
velopment, and were of only temporary dura- 
tion. But the ministerial gifts of the Spirit, 
designed "for the perfecting of the saints, for 
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ," continue to be given, and shall 
be given, "till we all come in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of G-od < 
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
stature of the fullness of Christ. " Eph. iv. 12, 
13. Hence Paul says, " I thank my G-od I speak 
with tongues more than ye all. Yet in the 
Church I had rather speak five words with my 
understanding, that I might teach others also, 
than ten thousand words in an unknown 
tongue." 1 Cor. xiv. 18, 19. So much more 
did he value ministerial gifts above miraculous 
gifts. Miraculous gifts were for a sign; ruinis- 
terials gifts for a blessing. 

And the moral fruits of the Spirit, "love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness and temperance," are still wrought in 
the hearts and minds of believers by the Holy 
Spirit, which is given unto them. These consti- 
tute the life of G-od in the soul; and against such 
there is no law. These moral fruits are superior 
to ministerial gifts and miraculous endowments. 
Without them no one can be a Christian; with- 
out them the most splendid gifts are but as 
sounding brass and as a tinkling cymbal. These 



38 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

saving influences of the Holy Spirit are essential 
to salvation, and are continued in accordance 
with the promise of God: u Turn you at my re- 
proof : behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you, 
I will make known my words unto you. " Prov. 
i. 23. And the continuance of this baptism is 
guaranteed by the words of Christ, " And I will 
pray the Father, and he shall give you another 
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" 
that is through the whole gospel dispensation, 
which is, therefore, termed the dispensation of 
the Spirit. 

It is the saving influence of the Spirit which 
makes the baptism of fire a salutary discipline — 
a parental chastening, and gives to affliction, 
trial and persecution all their moral force in the 
purif}dng of the souls of believers. This Paul 
shows in Rom. v. 1-5. " Therefore being justi- 
fied by faith, we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have 
access, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand, 
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And 
not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: 
knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and 
patience, experience; and experience, hope; and 
hope maketh not ashamed; because the love 
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Spirit which is given unto us.'" The salutary 
effects of tribulations arise from the baptism of 
the Spirit, whereby the love of God is shed 
abroad in our hearts. And from this we learn 
the necessity of the Spirit's baptism, and the 
propriety of our making it the object of earnest, 



Putting on Christ 39 

fervent supplication to God, that we may have 
this Spirit shed abundantly on us, that we may 
he guided into all truth, to a saving knowledge 
of the Scriptures, and be sanctified through the 
truth, and prepared unto every good word and 
work: being u filled with all joy and peace in 
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through 
the power of the Holy Spirit." Kom. xv. 13. 
We daily need these saving influences for the 
support of our spiritual life, to assure us of our 
acceptance with God; to take the things of Christ 
and show them unto us; to help our infirmities 
and make intercession for us in our prayers; and 
elevate us, through the appointed means of grace, 
to fellowship and unity with the Father and the 
Son. 



40 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTER III. 

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE SPIRIT'S BAP- 
TISM AND WATER BAPTISM. 



We have shown that the Christian religion is 
characterized by three baptisms — the baptism of 
water, as an ordinance of discipleship — the bap- 
tism of the Spirit, in the bestowment of miracu- 
lous powers, ministerial gifts, and spiritual 
graces with their moral fruits — and the baptism 
of fire, in the afflictions and trials of life as a 
means of moral discipline and preparation for 
the kingdom of heaven. And when we consider 
the relative importance of these baptisms in the 
Christian economy, we are warranted to expect 
that corresponding attention will be given to 
them in the planting and training of the churches, 
as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. And 
such we have found to be the case. The baptism 
of water, as administered by the apostles and 
others, in accordance with Christ's command to 
disciple all nations, is mentioned fifteen times, as 
having been performed on nine occasions when 
persons were added to the church, or made dis- 
ciples outwardly, but is not in any way exalted 
to greater importance. The baptism of the Holy 



Putting on Christ, 41 

Spirit is mentioned twenty-five times, and in 
such terms as indicate its absolute necessity unto 
Salvation, as well as its importance to ministerial 
qualification and usefulness. The baptism of 
fire, consisting in sanctified afflictions, is not 
mentioned, except in narrating their persecu- 
tions, and that, in confirming the souls of the 
disciples, the Apostle exhorted them to continue 
in the faith, and that we must through much 
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 

Now it surely would be strange if in the Epis- 
tles we should find the reverse of all this; if in 
them the baptism of the Spirit should be ignored 
and the baptism of water only be spoken of : as 
if the Spirit's baptism were nothing, and the 
baptism of water were made to be every thing: 
and yet this is the effect of the exposition which 
teaches that Christ is put on by water baptism; 
and water baptism is as much insisted upon as 
if there could be no salvation without it. 

There are a few undoubted references to water 
baptism in the Epistles, on which a few remarks 
may be necessary, to show that it was not con- 
sidered essential to salvation; but was regarded 
simply as the ordinance of discipleship, and as 
only making disciples outwardly; and therefore, 
while it was unquestionably practiced in accord- 
ance with Christ's command, was never insisted 
upon or inculcated as a saving ordinance. The 
first reference is 1 Cor. i. 12-17. " Now this I say, 
that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and 
I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? 



42 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

or were ye baptised in the name of Paul? I thank 
God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and 
Gaius; lest any should say that I had baptized 
in my own name. And I baptized also the 
household of Stephanas; besides I know not 
Whether I baptized any other; for Christ sent me 
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." Here 
it is water baptism of which Paul speaks, for it 
is that performed by the gospel minister; and he 
shows that even in this baptism there was no 
ground on which to base their schisms, for they 
were baptized only in the name of Christ as their 
Lord and Master. But this being an outward 
ordinance, administered by the apostles and 
their fellow laborers in the gospel, it was possi- 
ble to abuse it to schismatic purposes; so that 
those baptized by Paul might say, I am of Paul; 
and those baptized by Apollos, I am of Apollos; 
and those baptized by Peter, I am of Peter; and 
on this account Paul thanks God that he lmd 
only baptized two individuals and one household 
among them. Declaring that not baptizing, 
but preaching the gospel was the great work 
Christ had sent him to do; clearly indicating 
that water baptism was not regarded by the 
Apostle as essential unto salvation; but only as a 
mode of making disciples outwardly, and not 
included in his commission as given, Acts. xxvi. 
16-18. " I have appeared unto thee for this 
purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, 
both of things which thou hast seen, and of 
those things in the which I will appear unto 
thee; delivering thee from the people, and from 



Putting on Christ. 43 

the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to 
open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness 
to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, 
that they may receive forgiveness of sins and 
inheritance among them which are sanctified 
by faith that is in me." But if water baptism 
were a saving ordinance, Paul would doubt- 
less have been commissioned to baptize as well 
as to preach; for he was " not a whit behind the 
chiefest apostle." 

Another reference to water baptism is in 1 
Peter hi. 21. " The like figure whereunto even 
baptism doth also now save us, (not the putting 
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of 
a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus Christ." Here, an inquiry is im- 
plied, What baptism doth now save us? And 
the answer is given, ^N"ot water baptism, which 
is outword — "a putting away of the filth of the 
flesh;" but that which is inward, in the purifying 
of the heart, — "the answer of a good conscience 
toward God:" or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 
Peter's language shows that water baptism is 
not of saving efficacy, and therefore is not essen- 
tial to salvation. 

Paul in Heb. x. 22, describes water baptism 
by the terms "having our bodies washed with 
pure water," which is equivalent to "putting 
away the filth of the flesh," and indicates its use 
outwardly as an ordinance of discipleship simply, 
changing the relation but not the heart of the 
subject. The Jews were familiar with the idea 
of water purifications by their divers baptisms. 



44 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

The inward baptism was " having the heart 
sprinkled from an evil conscience," correspond- 
ing to the " answer of a good conscience toward 
God," and is the baptism that saves. The bap- 
tism of water is thus shown to be without saving 
efficacy. 

What, then, is meant by the words "For as 
many of you as have been baptized into Christ, 
have put on Christ?" Having shown that it is 
not by water baptism, I now proceed to show 
that it is by the baptism of the Spirit that Christ 
is put on. The meaning of the term "put on," 
may be illustrated and explained by a few Scrip- 
ture references. Isa. li. 9: "Awake, awake, 
put on strength, O arm of the Lord." Isa. lii. 1: 
u Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; 
put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the 
holy city; for henceforth there shall no more 
come unto thee the uncircumcised and the un- 
clean. " Here to put on signifies first a manifes- 
tation of strength in the execution of the Divine 
purpose, whereby the arm of the Lord appears 
to be clothed with it. And, second, the attain- 
ment of that state of strength and beauty which 
is promised to Zion and Jerusalem, by the pre- 
paration of the Lord's people for it. And in 
like manner to put on Christ means the attain- 
ment and manifestation of the Spirit of Christ 
in all that pertains to the excellency of Christian 
character, whereby his people appear to be 
clothed with him, and exhibit the strength and 
beauty of holiness. 

To arrive at the true meaning of a passage we 



Putting on Christ. 45 

must not isolate it from its connection, and im- 
pose on it an arbitrary sense; for no scripture is 
to be interpreted by itself. And so Gal. iii. 27, 
must be interpreted by the scope of the Epistle, 
which is designed to counteract the effect of cer- 
tain Judaizing doctrines, and inculcate justifi- 
cation by faith in Christ, without the deeds of 
the law. And it is not to be presumed that 
Paul would, while repudiating the initiatory 
rites and ceremonies of Judaism as unavailing, 
ascribe the very life and power of Christianity 
to the observance of its initiatory ordinance. On 
the contrary, he declares (verses 13, 14,) that 
" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the 
law, — that the blessing of Abraham might come 
on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we 
might receive the promise of the Spirit, through 
faith." Xow by the promise of the Spirit is 
meant the baptism of the Spirit, by which, in the 
renewing of our hearts by faith, we become 
Abraham's spiritual seed and heirs of the bless- 
ing. Hence (verse 26), he says, " For we are all 
the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ;" 
and then adds, "For as many of you as have 
been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." 
" And (v. 29) if ye be Christ's, then are ye 
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the pro- 
mise." Again (vii 15), he sa}^s, a For in Christ 
Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, 
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature:" and to 
be a new creature is to be born again of the 
Spirit of God with the word of truth, and thus, 
being baptized with the Spirit, we attain to and 



46 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

manifest the Spirit of Christ, that is, we put on 
Christ. And u the promise by faith of Jesus 
Christ," that is, the baptism of the Spirit "is 
given to them that believe. " So that Christ is 
put on by the baptism of the Spirit. 

That this is the true sense, is further evident 
from Rom. vi. 1-11. "What shall we say then, 
shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 
By no means. How shall we that are dead ,o 
sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that 
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, 
were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are 
buried with him by baptism into death: that like 
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of 
the Father, even so we also should walk in new- 
ness of life : for if we have been planted together 
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in 
the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, 
that our old man is crucified with him, that the 
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth 
we should not serve sin. Now if we be dead 
with Christ, we believe we shall also live with 
him: knowing that Christ being raised from 
the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more 
dominion over him. For in that he died, he 
died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he 
liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye yourselves 
to be dead indeed unto sin; but alive unto God 
through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Apostle 
having shown, in the preceding argument, that 
we are justified, not by the deeds of the law, but 
by faith in Christ, supposes that some might 
thence infer that they were released from all 



Putting on Christ. 47 

obligation to obey the moral law, and even en- 
couraged to continue in sin that grace might 
abound in their forgiveness and salvation. But 
against this he utters his emphatic protest: "By- 
no means. How shall we that are dead to sin 
live any longer therein?" And what follows is 
intended to justify, illustrate, and maintain this 
position. Several figures are employed in the 
illustration drawn from the crucifixion, death, 
burial, resurrection, and life of Christ: and are 
evidently designed to illustrate a spiritual opera- 
tion, the death unto sin and the life unto God in 
the soul of man, as effected by the Spirit of God. 
He speaks of our " old man " — our carnal mind 
as being crucified with Christ; our consequent 
death unto sin, as being dead and buried with 
Christ; and our being renewed in the spirit of 
our minds and quickened to a new life, as being 
raised from the dead and living with Christ. 
And he speaks of this as the result or effect of a 
baptism whereby they had been baptized into 
Christ. But such is not the effect of water bap- 
tism. Water baptism does not crucify the old 
man — the carnal mind; does not make us die 
unto sin; does not bury us with Christ in that 
cleadness; does not quicken us to a life of faith, 
and raise us up with Christ in that spiritual 
quickening, so that we reckon ourselves to be 
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God. 
Nothing less than the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
can effect this; and we thus paraphrase the Apos- 
tle's language: Know ye not that as many of us 
as have been truly initiated into Jesus Christ by 



48 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

the baptism of the Holy Spirit, are thereby con- 
formed to his death, which was intended to de- 
stroy sin: therefore by this baptism our carnal 
mind is crucified and buried with Christ in his 
death; that as Christ was raised from the dead 
by a Divine power, even so our souls, being 
quickened by the Divine Spirit, should rise to 
newness of life: for if we are thus planted 
together with him in the similitude of his death, 
by the crucifixion and burial of our old man, we 
shall also experience a growth together with him 
in the similitude of his resurrection, by our being 
raised from a death of sin to a life of righteous- 
ness. The figure employed is not that we are 
buried with Christ in the baptismal water as an 
emblem of death; but that we are buried with 
him by baptism into his death. The figure puts 
us in the sepulcher with him, being first crucified 
with him and then buried with him. So also the 
figure raises us up with him, not from a watery 
grave, or from the baptismal waters, but from 
the sepulcher in which he lay when he died unto 
sin once. And the operation by which this death 
and resurrection is effected is the operation of 
the Spirit and that only. Thus the carnal mind 
is crucified; its power destroyed; our souls 
liberated from its bondage, and quickened by the 
principle of a spiritual life, derived from an ap- 
prehension by faith of Christ's sacrificial death, 
and a firm reliance on his living energies, where- 
by he rose from the dead to die no more. There- 
fore, instead of abusing the doctrine of justifica- 
tion bv faith to a continuance in sin because 



Putting on CJirist. 49 

grace abounds; we thence deduce the most 
powerful motives to influence us to such a course 
of conduct as will show that we are dead indeed 
unto sin, but alive unto God, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, in the attainment and manifesta- 
tion of the Spirit of Christ or a putting on Christ. 
So that Christ is put on by the baptism of the 
Spirit. 

Another passage of like import is Col. ii. 10-12: 
" And ye are complete in him (Christ) which is 
the head of all principality and power. In 
whom also ye are circumcised with the circumci- 
sion made without hands, in putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 
Christ; buried with him in baptism, wherein 
also ye are risen with him through the faith of 
the operation of God, who hath raised him from 
the dead." Here Paul speaks of an inward and 
spiritual work, termed "the circumcision of 
Christ," "made without hands," that is, spirit- 
ual, and accomplished in c ' putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh, " and burying the same, as 
a dead bod}^ along with Christ in the sepulcher, 
and of being quickened and raised to a new and 
spiritual life along with him, " through the faith 
of the operation of God, who raised him from 
the dead." Now, what baptism is it in which 
we are said to be thus buried with Christ and 
raised with him? Certainly not water baptism, 
but the baptism of the Spirit; for it is through 
the faith of a Divine operation, whereby Christ 
himself was raised from the dead. And Christ 
was raised by the Spirit of God. And hence Paul 



50 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

says, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up 
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised 
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your 
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 
Rom. viii. 11. The operation of Grod is the 
working of his Spirit which he gives us, and by 
which alone we are baptized into Christ and 
put on Christ. 

This view is fully sustained by other passages, 
such as Eph. iv. 4-6. There is one body and one 
Spirit; even as ye are called in one hope of your 
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
and Father of all ; who is above all, and through 
all, and in you all." A question here arises as 
to what this one baptism is. Some maintain that 
it is water baptism, and that there is no other; 
that the baptism of the Spirit was restricted to 
two occasions only, and then ceased; and that the 
baptism of fire is the threatened punishment of 
the wicked. But I have shown by Scripture 
testimony that the baptism of the Spirit was not 
so restricted. Even its miraculous gifts were 
bestowed freely and abundantly on other occa- 
sions, and continued to be given until Chris- 
tianity was fully developed; and that the minis- 
terial gifts and moral fruits continue to be given 
by the Spirit's baptism, and must continue until 
the Church itself shall be completed and the dis- 
pensation terminate. I have also shown that 
the baptism of fire is the discipline of trial and 
affliction, or the much tribulation through which 
we must enter into the kingdom of God. Now 
which of these is the one baptism here spoken of? 



Putting on Christ. 51 

Doubtless it is the baptism of the Spirit — the 
io dispensable baptism — without which there can 
be no salvation. But Mr. Challen says, page 
97: "If the Apostle referred to the baptism of 
the Spirit — then he has ignored, and for ever 
set aside, the baptism in water; for he has 
positively declared, with the same assurance, 
that there is but one body and one Spirit, one 
Lord and one faith — that there is but one bap- 
tism, and if this is the Spirit's baptism, then 
water, in any way, action, or form, in baptism, 
is for ever excluded." But the Apostle does not 
say, There is but one body, and but one baptism: 
the but is put in by Mr. Challen himself, and no 
doubt put in for a purpose, and very materially 
changes the meaning; indeed it makes it untrue 
in the sense in which Mr. Challen uses it. Let 
us see: "There is one body, that is, one Church. 
Well, what church is it? Is it the Church at 
Jerusalem? or one of the churches of Judea, or 
of Samaria; or one of the churches of Galatia; 
or one of the seven churches of Asia; or the 
Church at Corinth, or at Colosse? ^STo, indeed ! it 
is neither of these; nor any combination of these; 
nor is it the outward visible church of any place 
or any age. The one body is the true spiritual 
Church composed of all believers in Christ Jesus, 
who are regenerated by the Spirit. Well, when 
the Apostle says of this divine ideal Church, 
There is one body, does he mean to ignore, and 
for ever set aside the outward visible churches 
to whom he addresses his epistles, and of which 
mention is frequently made in the Acts? Cer- 



52 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

tainly not. The one body or one Church is an 
idea of a community entirely consistent with 
the co-existence of all these outward and visible 
churches, in each of which may perhaps be found 
a few of the members of the one body. It is so 
also with the baptism of the Spirit. It is one bap- 
tism, and, indeed, the only baptism by which we 
can be made members of the one body ; for the 
Apostle says, 1 Cor. xii. 13, ' By one Spirit we 
are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews 
or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and 
have all been made to drink into one Spirit. ' " 
And here we learn that for the one body — the 
true Church of Jesus Christ, there is one baptism 
— the baptism of the Spirit: while for the out- 
ward or visible churches, there is the baptism of 
water. But Paul was not speaking of the out- 
ward or visible churches, and therefore does not 
speak of the outward baptism of water. Neither 
does it follow that he ignores and for ever sets 
aside water baptism, because he denominates 
the baptism of the Spirit, one baptism ; no more 
than it follows that he ignores and for ever sets 
aside the outward and visible churches, because 
he denominates Christ's true ideal Church, the 
one body, or one Church. 

Now, to be by one Spirit baptized into one 
body, is to be made members of Christ's true 
Church, and so to be baptized into Christ, and to 
put on Christ. Hence, in 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14, 
Paul says: " But we are bound to give thanks 
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the 
Lord, because God hath from the beginning 



Putting on Christ, 53 

chosen you to salvation through sanctification 
of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; whereunto 
he hath called you by our gospel, to the obtain- 
ing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 
And 1 Thess. i. 5, 6, " For our gospel came not 
unto you in word only, but also in power, and in 
the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance; — and ye 
became followers of us, and of the Lord, having 
received the word in much affliction, with joy of 
the Holy Spirit." From these and other corres- 
ponding passages of Scripture, we find that the 
ministration of the gospel must be not in the 
letter only, but in the Spirit. The preaching of 
the apostles was only made eiFectual by the 
Divine power attending it, and the same power 
is as necessary now to convert and save men as 
it was then. It is not the word alone, but the 
word with the Holy Spirit sent down from 
heaven; that is, the baptism of the Spirit; and 
which is as needful now as ever; and does still 
accompany the truth preached to the hearts and 
consciences of men; convincing of sin and turn- 
ing the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. 
And Paul's prayer, Eph. hi. 14-21, is still appro- 
priate: " For this cause I bow my knees unto the 
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the 
whole family (the true Church) in heaven and 
earth is named, that he would grant you, accord- 
ing to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened 
with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that 
Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that 
ye (having put on Christ,) being rooted and 
grounded in love, may be able to comprehend 



54 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

with all saints, what is the breadth, and depth, 
and length, 2nd height; and to know the love of 
Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might 
be filled with all the fullness of God; (and so he 
filled with the Spirit, or baptized with the Spirit). 
!N"ow unto him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that we ask or think, according 
to the power (the Holy Spirit) that worketh in us, 
unto him be glory in the Church by Jesus Christ, 
throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. ' ' 



Putting on Christ. 65 



CHAPTER IV. 

IN REGARD TO CHARACTER AND DEPORTMENT. 



To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is not the 
profession of Christianity by an outward form, 
or ceremony. This is simply to put on the pro- 
fession of discipleship, which may be a profession 
only, a form of godliness without the power, a 
naming of Christ or a taking his name without 
departing from iniquity; and, in such cases, is 
admitted by all to possess no saving efficacy. 
And even when the form is accompanied with 
the power, the efficacy is not in che form, but in 
the power. To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is 
to become a true Christian, inwardly, by the 
renewing of the mind and the purifying of the 
heart; a work effected by the Holy Spirit, and 
which has also an outward manifestation, cor- 
responding with the inward and spiritual change, 
and is the evidence of such a change. This is 
to put on Christ in relation to the character and 
deportment becoming the gospel of Christ, and 
is the subject of present consideration. 

First , Paul, in his letter to the Romans, hav- 
ing shown the relation in which they stood to 
Christ, by the Spirit's baptism, says: "Let not 
sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye 



56 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield 
ye your members as instruments of unrighteous- 
ness unto sin ; but yield yourselves unto God, as 
those that are alive from the dead, and your mem- 
bers as instruments of righteousness unto God." 
Rom. vi. 12, 13. Thus a holy life is shown to be 
the proper external manifestation of the inward 
state of grace effected by the Holy Spirit. Being 
dead to sin by the cross of Christ, they could no 
longer live in sin. The nails and spear which 
pierced the body of Jesus as a sin-offering had, 
through the operation of the Spirit, crucified 
their carnal mind, and freed them from its power. 
And, being raised to a new life through the faith 
of the operation of God, in the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ from the dead, they were con- 
strained to live to him who died for them and 
rose again. 

He further illustrates and enforces this point 
in vii. 1-4, by the consideration that as, when 
a husband dies, his widow is released from the 
bond which united them, and is at liberty to be 
united to another, so they were released from 
their bondage to the law by the death of the 
old man of sin, that they might be married to 
Christ, in the new covenant, and bring forth fruit 
unto God. And viii. 1, he says: " There is, there- 
fore, no condemnation to them which are in 
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but 
after the Spirit;" whereby it appears that the 
walk or deportment evinces the state or relation, 
and to walk after the Spirit in mortifying the 
flesh with its affections and lusts, and living 



Putting on Christ. 57 

soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
evil world, manifests that such as do so are in 
Christ Jesus. " For as many as are led by the 
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.'.' 

There were in the Church at Rome, as in all 
organized professing churches, some having a 
form without the power of godliness — some bap- 
tized with water, who were not baptized with the 
Spirit — some who were led by the spirit of the 
world, and not by the Spirit of God. They were 
Christians outwardly by profession and water 
baptism; but they were not Christians inwardly, 
by regeneration and sanctihcation. By water 
baptism they were made disciples in the letter; 
but water baptism does not wash away sin, nor 
effect a change of heart; and therefore does not 
make the subject of it a real Christian. The bap- 
tism of the Spirit alone can do this, and enable a 
man to live a holy life. Hence the exhortation to 
such, "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the 
lusts thereof," is an exhortation to repentance, 
and to a life of self-denial and holiness in accord- 
ance with their profession. Christ was to be put 
on in godly living. 

Second. In his Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul 
inculcates the same point, though using different 
figures and illustrations. He tells them that the 
true Christian is the temple of God in which the 
Spirit dwells. "Know ye not that ye are the 
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwel- 
leth in you." 1 Cor. iii. 16. This is true of all 



58 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

who are baptized with the Holy Spirit; for that 
is to receive the Spirit and to be filled with the 
Spirit. It is true of all real Christians. It was 
true of all such at Corinth; but in the Church 
there, as well as at Home, there were some of 
whom it could not be said, that they really were 
temples of God — some who were only such by 
profession; who were merely baptized heathen, 
and necessarily excepted; for Paul says of them, 
" But now I have written unto you not to keep 
company, if any man that is called a brother be 
a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a 
railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with 
such an one, no not to eat." v. 11. Such were 
not temples of God, nor did the Spirit of God 
dwell in them. They were rather temples of 
Satan, and the hold of every foul and unclean 
spirit. Still they might be saved, if they could 
be induced to repent of their sinful practices, 
and put on the Lord Jesus Christ in the baptism 
of the Spirit; for others of like character had 
been thus saved from their sins as we learn, vi. 
9-11. " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall 
not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not de- 
ceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor 
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of them- 
selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, 
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such 
were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye 
are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name 
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our 
God." This washing was not effected by water 



Patting on Christ. 59 

baptism, or else there would not have been in 
the Church one called a brother who was a 
fornicator or a drunkard: for all had been bap- 
tized with water. No: it was the " washing 
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Spirit," by which they were cleansed from their 
sins and sanctified. And they obtained this 
cleansing through faith in Christ's atoning sacri- 
fice: for his blood cleanseth from all sin; and in 
Rev. i. 5, it is said that Christ washed the saints 
from their sins in his own blood. This, in Eph. 
v. 26, is called the washing of water by the word, 
which must be a spiritual washing. The term 
water being used, as in John vii. 38, 39, for the 
Holy Spirit which they that believe on him re- 
ceive. And all who are thus washed from sin, 
sanctified, and justified b}^ the Spirit of God, are 
temples of God. Hence he says again, " Know 
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God, 
and ye are not your own? .For ye are bought 
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body 
and in your spirit which are God's." vi. 19, 20, 
which amounts to this; Let your conduct be in 
accordance with your relation to God and the 
obligations you are under to him. Let it be a 
real putting on of Jesus Christ in a life of faith 
and practical obedience. 

He then cautions them against trusting in a 
mere profession of Christianity, from the exam- 
ple of the Israelites, who all "were under the 
cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were 
all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the 



60 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and 
did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they 
drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, 
and that rock was Christ. But with many of 
them God was not well pleased; for they were 
overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things 
were our examples to the intent we should not lust 
after evil things as they also lusted. " x. 1-6. The 
lesson here taught is that outward discipleship 
by water baptism, and observance of the Lord's 
supper will not avail to save any one whose con- 
duct is sinful and impure. " Wherefore he saith, 
Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest 
he fall. " ver. 12. If thinking himself secure in 
his church connection by water baptism, and the 
observance of the Lord's supper, he should in- 
dulge in fleshly lusts, he falls. His profession 
can not save him. He must, by a spiritual bap- 
tism, die unto sin, be buried with Christ, rise with 
Christ, and put on Christ in the attainment and 
manifestation of the Spirit of Christ, or his pro- 
fession is nothing. For " if .any man have not 
the Spirit of Christ he is none of his. " But u by 
one Spirit we are all baptized into one body " — 
the true Church — "whether we be Jews or Gen- 
tiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been 
all made to drink into one Spirit." The baptism 
of the Spirit brings us into fellowship with the 
Spirit. And drinking of this living water, it 
becomes a well of water, springing up in the soul 
unto eternal life. This Divine Spirit is a foun- 
tain of life to him that hath it. Yea, it is an 
anointing , a sea\ and an earnest; the anointing 



Putting on Christ. 61 

of truth, the seal of redemption, the earnest of our 
future inheritance. " Now he which establisheth 
us with you, in Christ, and hath anointed us, is 
God: who hath also sealed us, and given the 
Spirit in our hearts." 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. "Now 
he that hath wrought us for the self same thing 
is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest 
of the Spirit, v. 5. Thus Christ is formed in 
our hearts the hope of glory; and he that hath 
this hope in him purine th himself as he is pure. 
Third. This point is clearly established in his 
letter to the Galatians, some of whom had been 
turned away from the gospel by the Judaizing 
teachers to seek justification by the deeds of the 
law. He says, " Are ye so foolish? having 
begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by 
the flesh? hi. 3. They were foolish in forsaking 
the gospel for the law, from which they could 
hope for nothing but a curse. The blessing of 
Abraham did not come by the law, but by Jesus 
Christ, that the Gentiles might receive the pro- 
mise of the Spirit, through faith; the promise 
of the Spirit being the baptism of the Spirit, 
which is given to them that believe. Hence, he 
says, For as many of you, as have been baptized 
into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither 
Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, 
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all 
one in Christ Jesus." Now in 1 Cor. xii. 13, it 
is said to be by the Spirit's baptism that this 
oneness is effected, and proves that here also the 
Apostle speaks concerning the same baptism, in 
which alone Christ is put on, and all national, 



62 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

conditional and sexual distinctions are lost. All 
believers in Christ are the children of God by 
faith; and because they are children, God sends 
forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts, 
crying, Abba, Father. This is the Spirit of 
adoption, through which " we wait for the hope 
of righteousness by faith." v. 5. Now this 
"putting on Christ" is attended by a corres- 
ponding external manifestation, of which he 
says, " Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill 
the lusts of the flesh;" for "the fruit of the 
Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suifering, gentle- 
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: 
against such there is no law. And they that 
are Christ's have crucified the fiesh with its affec- 
tions and lusts." And in these moral fruits of 
the Spirit it is evinced that Christ is put on, not 
by profession only, but by a becoming practical 
walk, wherein no provision is made for the flesh 
to fulfill the lusts thereof. 

Fourth. Among the Ephesians the true Chris- 
tians are distinguished as those who "trusted in 
Christ, after they had heard the word of truth, 
the gospel of their salvation, and in whom also, 
after they believed, they were sealed with that 
Holy Spirit of promise^ and were builded 
together for a habitation of God through the 
Spirit;" and these he exhorts to a deportment 
worthy of their relation to God. " I say, there- 
fore, and testify in the Lord Jesus, that ye hence- 
forth walk, not as other Gentiles walk, in the 
vanity of their mind having the understanding 
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, 



Putting on Christ. 63 

through the ignorance that is in them, because 
of the blindness of their heart: who being past 
feeling have given themselves over unto lascivi- 
ousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. 
But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that 
ye have heard him, and have been taught by him 
as the truth is in Jesus; that ye put off concern- 
ing the former conversation, the old man, which 
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and 
be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And 
that ye put on the new man, which after God is 
created in righteousness and true holiness." iv. 
17-24. This putting on the new man is putting 
on Christ in the manifestations of a good char- 
acter. u For the fruit of the Spirit is in all good- 
ness, and righteousness, and truth." v. 9. 

Fifth. In his letter to the Philippians, he thus 
designates the spiritual Christians: i4 For we are 
the circumcision, which worship God in the 
Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no 
confidence in the flesh;" hi. 3, and then gives 
us his own experience. u But what things were 
gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, 
doubtless, and I count all things loss for the 
excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my 
Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all 
things, and do count them dung that I may win 
Christ, and be found in him, not having my own 
righteousness, which is of the law, but that 
which is through the faith of Christ; the righte- 
ousness which is of God by faith: that I may 
know him, and the power of his resurrection, 
being made conformable unto his death: if by 



64 The Doctrine of Baptisms 

any means I might attain unto the resurrection 
out of the dead. Not as though I had already 
attained, either were already perfect; but I fol- 
low after, if that I may apprehend that for 
which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 
Brethren, I count not myself to have appre- 
hended. But this one thing I do, forgetting 
those things which are behind and reaching forth 
unto those things which are before, I press 
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling 
in Christ Jesus;" verses 7-14. And this experi- 
ence he presses upon all of the same faith: u Let 
us therefore, as many as be perfect be thus 
minded, and whereunto we have already at- 
tained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind 
the same thing;" verses 15, 16. Thus they were 
to put on Christ in the progressive development 
of a Christian character, and constant advance- 
ment in the Christian life. Such were the true 
circumcision who walked in the steps of Paul. 
Others there were in the church, disciples out- 
wardly by water baptism, whose walk proclaimed 
them enemies of Christ, whose end was destruc- 
tion, whose Grod was their belly, whose glory 
was their shame, who minded earthly things. 
These were not baptized of the Spirit nor 
washed from their sins, and had not put on 
Christ. 

Sixth. The saints and faithful brethren of 
Colosse are described as complete in Christ, cir- 
cumcised with the circumcision made without 
hands, buried with him in baptism, wherein also 
they were risen with him, as subjects of a Divine 



Putting on Christ 65 

operation. And to them he says: "If ye then 
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are 
above where Christ also sitteth on the right hand 
of God. Set your affections on things above, 
not on things on the earth. Tor ye are dead 
(dead to sin and to the world) and your life is 
hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is 
our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear 
with him in glory." hi. 1-4. And again, Put 
on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and be- 
loved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness 
of mind, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one 
another and forgiving one another if any man 
have a quarrel against any; even as Christ for- 
gave you, so also do ye. And above all things 
put on charity (love) which is the bond of per- 
fectness, (the more excellent way, ) and let the 
peace of God rule in your hearts, to which ye 
are also called, and be ye thankful, iii. 12-15. 
Here we find that to put on Christ is to put on 
the character, and to follow the example of 
Christ. 

Seventh. And to the Thessalonians who had 
received the word in much affliction, and joy of 
the Holy Spirit, he says: " Ye are all the 
children of light, and the children of the day," 
"therefore let us watch and be sober; putting 
on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a 
helmet the hope of salvation," thus showing 
that Christian character, and practical godly 
living, constitute the putting on Christ in its ex- 
ternal manifestation. And this is the testimony 
of Paul in his epistles, demonstrating, beyond a 
5 



66 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

doubt, that holiness of heart and life are essen- 
tially connected with, and spring from the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit. ' c For God hath not 
called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness. 
He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man 
but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy 
Spirit." 1 Thess. iv. 7. 8. Without the Spirit in 
all that constitutes a saving baptism, no one can 
be born of God, no one can belong to Christ, no 
one can live a truly holy life, no one can inherit 
the kingdom of heaven. This is the concurrent 
testimony of the Scriptures. Let us not, then, 
despise the doctrine of the Divine influence in 
regeneration, sanctification and redemption, as 
though it were no longer needed in the world. 
This may be done while professing to honor the 
word of God, by denying the necessity of the 
Spirit's operation to give efficiency to the truth: by 
maintaining that the word alone is altogether suf- 
ficient to effect the renewing of the mind and the 
purifying of the heart: that a certain method — 
water baptism — is therein prescribed for becoming 
a Christian, just as in the constitution of the 
United States, a certain method, naturalization — 
is prescribed for foreigners to become citizens; and 
ail that is necessary to be done, in either case, is to 
attend to this form or ceremony, and you are at 
once initiated into all the rights and privileges of 
the new relation. And so far as the professing 
Church is concerned, this is the case. The 
baptized person becomes a disciple outwardly, 
and a member of the professing Church; but 
that is all, unless he has also been baptized of 



Putting on Christ. 67 

the Spirit, and thus made a child of God, and a 
member of the one body, the true Church. 
There may be light without heat, and there may 
be the word without the Spirit. Light without 
heat does not quicken any thing. The word 
without the Spirit does not regenerate any one. 
The word is the instrument of regeneration and 
sanctification, but the Spirit is the agent. This 
is recognized by James (i. 18.) a Of his own 
^will begat he us with the word of the truth, that 
we should be a kind of first fruits of his crea- 
tures." And by Peter (1 Epistle i. 22). Seeing 
ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth, 
through the Spirit." And by John (1 Epistle ii. 20. ) 
u But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and 
ye know all things." And (iv. 13) "Hereby 
know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, 
because he hath given us of his Spirit." And 
by Jude (20, 21,) u But ye, beloved, building up 
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in 
the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of 
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
Christ unto eternal life." And in Eev. v. 6, the 
vision of the seven spirits of God sent forth into 
all the earth, indicates that the Holy Spirit, in 
all the fullness of regenerating and sanctifying 
power, still works for the redemption of mankind 
through the mediation of the Son of God, and 
will work until the whole elect Church of God 
shall sing that new song to the Lamb, " Thou 
art worthy to take the book, and to open the 
seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast re- 
deemed us to God by thy blood, out of every 



68 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

kindred and tongue, and people and nation, and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests; 
and we shall reign on the earth." Rev. v. 9, 10. 

Thus throughout the writings of the Apostles 
we find that the Holy Spirit is presented as the 
convincing, converting, sanctifying and redeem- 
ing agent, whereby the word of God is made 
effectual, as an instrumentality of salvation, 
whereby we are made new creatures in Christ 
Jesus, and so put on Christ in our separation 
from the world, and preparation for the kingdom* 
of God. 

Let us, then, receive these testimonies: culti- 
vate a deep sense of our need of the Holy Spirit, 
and submit our souls to this sin-destroying and 
soul-renewing baptism, that we may be dead in- 
deed unto sin, but alive unto God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The baptism of the Spirit 
is no less real now in the bestowment of minis- 
terial gifts and moral fruits, than it was when 
attested by miraculous signs: but it is necessary 
that we be emptied of all pride, vain glory, and 
self-conceit, that we may be filled with the 
Spirit, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 



DOOTKIKE OF BAPTISMS. 

PAET II. 

The [hree Witnesses, 



PEEFAOE. 



The manner and connection in which the be- 
loved disciple introduces the Three Witnesses 
into his Epistle, must impress every reflecting 
mind with an idea of their importance in the 
Christian economy. It is further obvious that 
the meaning of the passage has been greatly ob- 
scured by the interpolated matter, which, though 
universally acknowledged as spurious, is still re- 
tained in the authorized English version. And, 
the meaning being obscured, the particular ap- 
plications of this passage have been wholly over- 
looked or only partially discovered. This treatise 
is designed to develop its meaning, and show 
its bearings on the subject of baptisms. The 
investigation has been deeply interesting, and it 
is hoped that the points discussed will be found 
intelligibly unfolded, and, by the blessing of God, 
instructive and edifying, though the limits as- 
signed have made it necessary to be brief, where 
enlargement might have been advantageous. It 
was not intended to be exhaustive, but simply 
to present the truth in such a manner as would 
produce conviction, and be suggestive of corres- 
ponding thoughts. 

(71) 



THE 

Doctrine of Baptisms 



PAET II. 
THE THREE WITNESSES. 

"AND THERE ARE THREE THAT BEAR WITNESS."— John. 



INTBODTJCTTON 

It is generally admitted that the passage in 
the fifth chapter of the first Epistle of John, re- 
lative to three that bear witness in heaven, is an 
interpolation. It is found in but one of the one 
hundred and thirteen Greek MSS. of the New 
Testament known to be extant, and that one the 
most modern, having been written subsequent to 
the year A. D. 1500. It is not found in any 
ancient version except the Vulgate, and in no 
copies of this version written prior to the tenth 
century. None of the ancient Greek fathers 
quote it; and the more ancient of the Latin 
fathers mention it not. Griesbach leaves it out 
of the text; and the critics generally declare it 

(73) 



74 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

spurious. " In short," says Dr. A. Clarke, " it 
stands on no authority sufficient to authenticate 
any part of a revelation professing to have come 
from God." Omitting this evidently spurious 
passage, the text from the fifth to the ninth 
verses will read thus: 

" This is he that came by water and blood, 
Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water 
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth 
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there 
are three that bear record, the Spirit, the water, 
and the blood, and these three agree in one." 

That the meaning of this passage is somewhat 
obscure, is evinced by the diversity of opinions 
respecting it among expositors, and the conjec- 
tural form in wmich the} 7 are usually expressed. 
The most plausible of these may be condensed 
into the following statement. That the first 
witness is the Holy Spirit, which descended on 
Jesus at his baptism in attestation of his Mes- 
siahship; and by the written word continually 
witnesseth that Jesus is the Son of God, and 
that God hath given unto us eternal life in him. 
That the second witness is the water in the bap- 
tism of Jesus, as an emblem of the purity of his 
character and the nature of his religion, and still 
used in the ordinance of Christian baptism, to 
bear witness of the same thing; and as being 
connected with the belief that Jesus is the Son 
of God. That the third witness is the blood of 
Jesus, shed on the cross as an atonement for sin, 
and which, being represented in the Lord's sup- 
per, testifies of his death uLtil he shall come 



The Three Witnesses. 75 

again. That these three witnesses thus agree in 
the substance of their testimony concerning 
Jesus Christ and his salvation. 

But this view, however true in relation to the 
particulars embraced in it, does not satisfy the 
mind of its correctness. It is inconclusive, and 
suggests doubts rather than produces conviction. 
Yet it was, doubtless, intended that we should 
understand this portion of Scripture, for John 
says, v. 13: " These things have I written unto 
you that believe on the name of the Son of G-od; 
that ye might know that ye have eternal life, 
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son 
of God." There must be some practical and 
efficient connection between the things written 
respecting the witnesses and their testimony, 
and the knowledge to be attained thereby, and 
the faith to be exercised. This connection can 
only be found in the testimony of the word of 
God, comparing spiritual things with spiritual 
things, and w r ith humble dependence upon the 
Spirit of God to guide us into all truth, and to 
take the things of Christ and show them unto 
us. The following exposition of the passage in 
its connection with the context embracing most 
of the chapter, is given as the result of biblical 
research and prayerful thought. 



76 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL EXPOSITION. 



" "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the 
Christ, is born of God : and every one that loveth 
him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten 
of him. By this we know that we love the chil- 
dren of God, when we love God, and keep his 
commandments. For this is the love of God, 
that we keep his commandments : and his com- 
mandments are not grievous. For whatsoever 
is born of God overcometh the world ; and this 
is the victory that overcometh the world, even 
our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, 
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of 
God? This is he that came by water and blood, 
even Jesus Christ ; not by water only, but by 
water and blood : and it is the Spirit that beareth 
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there 
are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the 
water and the blood ; and these three agree in 
one. If we receive the witness of men, the wit- 
ness of God is greater : for this is the witness of 
God, which he hath testified of his son. He that 
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in 
himself; he that believeth not God, hath made 



The Three Witnesses. 77 

him a liar ; because he believeth not the record 
that God gave of his Son. And this is the 
record, that God hath given to us eternal life ; 
and this life is in his Son. He that hath the 
Son, hath life ; and he that hath not the Son of 
God, hath not life. These things have I written 
unto you that believe on the Son of God : that 
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that 
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 
And this is the confidence that we have in him, 
that if we ask any thing according to his will, he 
heareth us : and if we know that he hear us, 
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the 
petitions that we desired of him." 1 John 
v. 1-15. 

The persons addressed by the Apostle are 
believers in Jesus Christ ; and the object of his 
address is, that by his testimony they might 
know, or be fully assured, that they had eternal 
life, and have their faith increased to an un- 
wavering confidence in the name of the Son of 
God. He shows that to believe in Jesus Christ 
is to be born of God. Faith in Jesus Christ 
being the reception of the Divine testimony or 
word of truth which is the incorruptible seed of 
regeneration, with which we are spiritually be- 
gotten by the Father of lights, according to his 
own will : for we are all the children of God by 
faith in Jesus Christ. And this Divine birth is 
evidenced, 

First, By love to God and to the children of 
God : for the love to God is a certain result of 
being born of God, and necessarily associates 



78 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

with it love to the children of God. Second, By 
keeping the commandments of G-od and delight- 
ing in the same ; for obedience accompanies love 
to God, and the child of God delights in the law 
of God after the inner man — the new man — the 
divine nature wrought within by the Holy Spirit. 
Third, By overcoming the world through faith 
in the Son of God: for by faith in Christ he 
discerns the vanity of the world in contrast with 
the unfading glory of the future kingdom of G d, 
and is armed with patience that is invincible, 
that renounces the world, and comes off more 
than conqueror in every conflict. And having 
thus described the relation, the obedience and 
victory of the believer in the Son of God, he in 
the sixth verse evidently refers to some state- 
ment previously made respecting Jesus Christ, 
by way of identifying him with it, and thereby 
introducing the subject of the three witnesses. 
He says, "This is he that came by water and 
blood; even Jesus Christ; not by water only, 
but by water and blood ; and it is the Spirit that 
beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth." 
He on whom they believed, and by faith in 
whose name they were born of God and over- 
came the world, was the same that came by 
water and blood, as testified by the Spirit of 
truth. But in this epistle nothing is previously 
said about the water and blood, and hence, 
doubtless, the language refers to his testimony 
in his gospel respecting the water and the blood, 
in the scene of the crucifixion ; where we read : 
" After this, Jesus knowing that all things 



The Three Witnesses. 79 

were now accomplished, that the Scripture 
might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there 
was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled 
a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, 
and put it to his mouth. When Jesus, there 
fore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is 
finished ; and he bowed his head, and gave up 
the Spirit. The Jews, therefore, because it was 
the preparation, that the bodies should not 
remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for 
that Sabbath was a high day), besought Pilate 
that their legs might be broken, and that they 
might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, 
and brake the legs of the first, and of the other 
which were crucified with him. But when they 
came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, 
they brake not his legs ; but one of the soldiers 
with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith 
came thereout blood and water. And he that 
saw it bare record, and his record is true ; and 
he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might 
believe. For these things were done that the 
scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall 
not be broken. And again another scripture 
saith, They shall look on him whom they 
pierced. John xix. 28-37. 

-Now it is evident that the reference by the 
Apostle in the Epistle is to the record here 
made respecting the water and the blood which 
flowed from the side of Jesus, and by which was 
fulfilled the testimony of the Spirit in the Scrip- 
tures. It is remarkable how explicit the Apostle 
is in verifying his testimony concerning the 



80 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

water and the blood. "And he that saw it 
bare record, and his record is true; and he 
knoweth that he saith true, that ye might be- 
lieve." And the object here avowed accords 
with the object in testifying concerning the 
three witnesses — "that ye might believe." Now 
there is an important point involved in this tes- 
timony, one which lies at the very foundation 
of the atonement for sin made by the death of 
Christ, and on which depends the hope of eter- 
nal life. It is that Jesus voluntarily laid down 
his life for us ; that his life was not forfeited by 
transgression ; that being holy, harmless, unde- 
fined, separate from sinners, and higher than the 
heavens, as the Son of God, he was not involved 
in the imputation of Adam's sin, whereby the 
penalty of death came upon all his posterity. 
.For Jesus the Son of God existed before Adam, 
and was Adam's Creator and Lord; and incarna- 
tion, which brought him into affinity with our 
race, did not bring him under the penalty of 
Adam's sin. And therefore his death was not 
the penalty of sin; but a voluntary sacrifice for 
sin to make reconciliation for transgressors. This 
was in accordance with his own declarations; 
" As the Father knoweth me, even so know I 
the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I 
lay down my life that I might take it again. No 
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of my- 
self; I have power to lay it down, and I have 
power to take it again." John x. 15, 17, 18. 
Now when he cried: " It is finished," and bowed 



The Three Witnesses. 81 

his head, and gave up the spirit; his giving up 
the spirit was the act of laying down his life; 
and of the verity of this act it was important 
that there should be no doubt. The whole doc- 
trine of atonement for sin by his death hinges 
upon it; for if Christ's death was not voluntary, 
it could be no atonement for sin. But he volun- 
tarily gave himself up into the hands of wicked 
men to be crucified by them, and after enduring 
the agony for three hours, he cried with a loud 
voice, "Father, into thy hands I commit my 
spirit, ' ' which showed that he did not die from 
exhaustion, and immediately yielded up his 
spirit. This was long before death could have 
ensued by crucifixion, and hence it convinced 
the centurion that he was the Son of God. And 
Pilate marveled when he heard of it, as an 
extraordinary circumstance, out of the line even 
of human probabilities. 

Now that he thus laid down his life for us, is 
proved by the testimony respecting the water 
and the blood. When the soldiers, who were 
sent to break the legs of the crucified ones, and 
thus hasten their death, came to Jesus, they per- 
ceived that he was already dead, and they brake 
not his legs, deeming it unnecessary; but one of 
them, with a spear, pierced his side, and forth- 
with came there out blood and water. Their 
omitting to break his legs, and the piercing of 
his side, were evidences that they considered him 
as already dead. And the flow of blood and 
water, which may have been simply a natural 
effect of the wound b}^ the spear, in passing 
6 



82 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

through the pericardium into the heart, furnished 
conclusive evidence to the Apostle that Jesus 
had really laid down his own life, and thus made 
a propitiation for sin through faith in his blood. 
He was a witness to the facts in the case, though 
not till afterwards did he understand their sacri- 
ficial import. But he assures us that he saw it, 
and that his record is true, and he knoweth that 
he saith true, "that ye might believe." These 
facts furnish a foundation for our faith in the 
voluntariness of the death of Christ, and there- 
fore that his death was an offering for sin. 

Another point of great importance in this tes- 
timony is the shedding of his blood, as an essen- 
tial requirement in his death as an atonement 
for sin; for without the shedding of blood there 
is no remission. He might have laid down his 
life without shedding a drop of his blood; but 
this would not have fulfilled the law of sacrifice 
in making atonement for sin. Hence the par- 
ticular testimony respecting the blood. "Not 
by water only; but by water and blood." The 
water was an evidence that he had voluntarily 
laid down his life for us. The blood was that 
and more; it was an element of atonement; it 
was necessary to valid propitiation; it was re- 
quired for the ratification of the New Cove- 
nant in making reconciliation for transgressors. 
Hence we are said to be " brought nigh by his 
blood," and to be "justified by his blood," and 
to be "redeemed by his blood," and to be 
" washed from our sins in his blood." And the 
songs of the saints is, " Thou art worthy to take 



The Three Witnesses. 83 

the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation. " Eev. v. 9. And those who 
come up out of great tribulation and stand before 
God, wash their robes and make them white in 
the blood of the Lamb. 

That the coming of Christ in the flesh had 
reference to his death and sacrifice for sin, is set 
forth in his own testimony and by his apostles. 
Indeed this was the chief purpose of his coming, 
the great object of his incarnation. In Matt. xx. 
28, he says: " Even as the Son of man came not 
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to 
give his life a ransom for many." And in John 
xii. 24, 27, 32, 33, " Yerily, verily, I say unto 
you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die, it abide th alone; but if it die it bringeth 
forth much fruit. Now is my soul troubled, and 
what shall I say? Father save me from this 
hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour. 
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw 
all men unto me. (This he said, signifying what 
death he should die.)" Again he said: "And as 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life." John hi. 14, 15. And 
again: " I am the living bread which came down 
from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he 
shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give 
is my flesh which I will give for the life of the 
world. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except 



84 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink 
his blood, ye have no life in you. "Whoso eateth 
my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal 
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." 
John vi. 51, 53, 54. Thus Jesus connects his 
coming from heaven, and his advent into the 
world by the incarnation, with the sacrificial 
offering of himself, whereby all believers in him 
obtain eternal life, as the great end of his coming, 
fully justifying the application of the phrase, This 
is he that came by water and blood to the scene 
of the crucifixion. 

To the same import is the language of Paul: 
" But now once in the end of the world (accovo^ 
age of sacrificial offerings) hath he appeared to 
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Heb. 
ix. 26. The Mosaic economy was one of num- 
erous expiatory sacrifices which were offered 
according to the law, but which could not take 
away sin, as was manifest from their continual 
repetition. But as types of a better sacrifice to 
come, they pointed the worshipers to Christ, 
and indicated that the great end or object of his 
coming in the flesh would be to make atonement 
for sin by the offering of himself once for all: and 
thus, too, putting an end to the age of typical 
sacrifices. Hence, also, John says: " And ye 
know that he was manifested to take away our 
sins; and in him is no sin." 1 John hi. 5. From 
these testimonies we learn that Jesus Christ was 
manifested, appeared in the end of the age, 
came into the world, to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself; and hence the phrase, u This 



The Three Witnesses. 8-5 

is he that came by water and blood," relates not 
so much to any circumstances attending his ad- 
vent into the world, or his entrance upon his 
ministry, as to the object of his coming, which 
was accomplished by his sacrificial death. 

In the facts of the crucifixion here referred to, 
there was a fulfilment of the Scripture which 
says: "A bone &f him shall not be broken." 
This was a requirement concerning the paschal 
lamb, which the Israelites were commanded to 
slay at the time of the passover, and sprinkle 
the blood upon the lintels and door-posts of their 
houses, for the redemption of their first-born 
from the sword of the destroying angel, which 
in that night slew all the first-born of the 
Egyptians. The paschal lamb was a type of 
Jesus Christ, our passover, who was slain for us; 
and by whose blood the Church of the first-born 
are redeemed from sin and from the second 
death. And the requirements concerning the 
type become predictions concerning the antitype; 
so that this Scripture, taken as a prophecy con- 
cerning Christ is said to have been fulfilled by 
the voluntary death of Christ, rendering it 
unnecessary that his legs should be broken. 

The condition of another Scripture which says, 
" They shall look on him whom they pierced," 
was also met in these transactions. This occurs 
in a prophecy concerning the repentance of 
Israel at the second coming of Christ, when they 
shall see him in his glory, and know him to be 
the crucified one who had been rejected by them. 
The prediction shows that Christ would be pre- 



86 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

viously pierced by them, and John testifies that 
this piercing took place when he was crucified. 

Now these Scriptures, and others in relation 
to the death of Christ, were given by inspiration 
of God, and by them the Holy Spirit testified of 
things to come. Hence John says: "And it is 
the Spirit that beareth witness, because the 
Spirit is truth." The events narrated, trans- 
pired as the Spirit testified they should. And 
nothing was wanting to the complete fulfilment 
of the word. And so " there are three that bear 
witness" to the all-atoning sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ by his death on the cross, " the Spirit, 
the water, and the blood" — the Spirit in the 
prophetical testimony, and the water and the 
blood, in the evidence they afforded that Christ 
laid down his life for the sin of the world. u And 
these three agree in one." Here the Spirit, and 
the water, and the blood, in prediction and ful- 
filment bear their concurrent testimony to the 
death of Jesus as a sin offering; and thereby 
faith in the record is confirmed. And "if we 
receive the witness of men," which is done in 
all departments of society, in proof of the most 
important facts, and in confirming covenants, 
"the witness of God is greater," and infinitely 
more worthy of belief. We ought, therefore, to 
receive this witness, and sincerely and truly be- 
lieve in the sacrificial death of Christ, as thus set 
forth in the Divine record. "For this is the 
witness of God, which he hath testified of his 
Son." The combined testimony of the three 
witnesses in presenting Christ before us as the 



The Three Witnesses. 87 

Son of God, and his death as the atoning 
sacrifice for sin, is the witness of G-od. The 
testimony of the Scripture is inspired by him. 
The fulfilment was arranged by him. His Spirit 
and his providence harmonize, showing the 
Divine origin of the testimony, and that it is 
worthy of all acceptation. And he that, re- 
ceiving the testimony, c ' belie veth on the Son of 
God, hath the witness in himself;" for the Holy 
Spirit is given to every obedient believer, and 
employs the truth which he receives to regen- 
erate and sanctify him, thus furnishing him with 
an internal witness that he is born of God, in his 
own consciousness of that spiritual change. 

But "he that belie veth not God," that re- 
ceiveth not this testimony, "hath made him a 
liar; because he belie veth not the record that 
God gave of his Son." This record is that par- 
ticularly respecting Christ's death contained in 
the testimony of the three witnesses, as here 
certified by the Apostle, but may also embrace 
the whole of the Divine word, comprised in the 
Old Testament predictions and the New Testa- 
ment fulfilments. It is the gospel record which 
is commanded to be preached for the obedience 
of faith among all nations. It is Christ cruci- 
fied — the power of God and the wisdom of God, 
unto all the saved. To reject it is a great sin: 
for the unbeliever tries virtually to make God a 
liar, because he discards the record as untrue. 

" And this is the record, that God hath given 
to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 
In the economy of redemption by Jesus Christ 



88 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

there are provisions of grace which are absolute, 
unconditional and universal; and there are also 
provisions of grace which are contingent, condi- 
tional, and special. In regard to them all, it 
may be said, that the purpose of God according 
to foreknowledge shall stand, and he will do all 
his pleasure. Of the former class of provisions, 
one is that of restoring to all mankind the life 
forfeited by Adam's transgression; to which end 
Christ sustains the same political relation to our 
race that Adam sustained. Both were represen- 
tative men; and as such, both acted for the 
whole race. " Therefore, as by the offence of 
one, judgment came upon all men to condemna- 
tion; even so by the righteousness of one, the 
free gift came upon all men unto justification of 
life. For as by one man's disobedience the many 
were made sinners; so by the obedience of one, 
shall the many be made righteous." Bom. v. 
18, 19. And, "For since by man came death, 
by man came also the resurrection of the dead 
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
all be made alive." 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. And 
hence "we have hope toward God — that there 
shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the 
just and unjust." Acts xxiv. 15. This provi- 
sion of redemption ensures to all men the restora- 
tion of the life forfeited by Adam's transgression; 
but this is natural life, corresponding with that 
of the first representative man, who was of the 
earth, earthy. This provision embraces all men, 
so that no one will come short of the gift, though 
all who avail themselves of the special provisions 



The Three Witnesses. 89 

of grace will obtain a greater gift, in which this 
will be swallowed up. 

A special provision of grace is the promise of 
eternal life to them that believe in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and which has for its foundation 
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, who died for our 
sins according to the Scriptures. For, u by his 
own blood, he entered into the holy place, hav- 
ing obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 
ix. 12. " And for this cause, he is the Mediator 
of the new covenant that by means of death 
for the redemption of the transgressions under 
the first covenant, they which are called might 
receive the promise of eternal inheritance." 
Heb. ix. 15. And hence Jesus says: " And this 
is the will of him that sent me, that every one 
that seeth the Son, and belie veth on him, may 
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at 
the last day." John vi. 40. The everlasting 
life here promised is associated with the resur- 
rection at the last day; that is, at the termina- 
tion of this dispensation, when the saints of Grod 
only will be raised from the dead, and the living 
saints shall be changed in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, and all shall be caught up 
together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the 
air, at his second coming. This is called the 
first resurrection, and the life attained in it is 
called eternal life, because of its glorious nature 
and condition, corresponding with that of the 
second representative man, who is the Lord from 
heaven, the brightness of the Father's glory and 
express image of his person. And after his like- 



90 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

ness, all that believe on him shall be made im- 
mortal, incorruptible, and glorious, and shall 
reign with him in his kingdom. This is a con- 
tingent, conditional, and special provision of 
grace, of which God has made promise to all 
who believe in his Son. And so " he that hath 
the Son hath life," being raised from a death of 
sin to a life of righteousness through the opera- 
tion of the Holy Spirit; for spiritual life in Christ 
Jesus is the incipient stage of eternal life. Liv- 
ing by faith in the Son of God; resting in his 
all atoning sacrifice for sin; and walking by faith 
and not by sight, is eternal life begun: for Jesus 
said, " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I 
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water 
that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of 
water springing up into everlasting life. This 
he spake of the Spirit which is given to all who 
believe." And which, Paul says: "he shed 
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our 
Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we 
should be made heirs according to the hope of 
eternal life." Titus hi. 6, 7. 

" And he that hath not the Son of God," that 
believeth not on his name, u hath not life." He 
has no spiritual life, and hence no eternal life. 
All he possesses is the natural life derived from 
the first Adam, and forfeited by his transgression: 
and he is therefore under the penalty of death. 
And though that life will be restored in the last 
order of the resurrection, because of the obedience 
of Christ, the second representative man, it will 
still be natural life in the natural body, with lia- 



The Three Witnesses. 91 

bilit}^ to suffering and pain. And though it will be 
perpetuated by suitable means ordained of God 
to that end, it will never be more than natural 
life. It will never be developed into the eternal 
life of incorruptible and glorified humanity. 

Such is the testimony of the three witnesses — 
the Spirit, and the water, and the blood — where- 
by Christ and his all-atoning sacrifice is presented 
to us as the object of our faith. This testimony 
centers in the cross, showing that the crucified 
one is the Son of God, and that he voluntarily 
laid down his life for us, and shed his precious 
blood for the remission of our sins, and so laid 
the foundation for a special manifestation of 
grace in the justification of all who believe on 
him unto eternal life. And that believing in him 
we may know that we are born of God, and if 
children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs 
with Christ unto an inheritance which is incor- 
ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; and 
that, "we may have confidence in him, that if 
we ask any thing according to his will he heareth 
us." For "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmi- 
ties; for we know not what we should pray for 
as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh inter- 
cession for us, with groanings which cannot be 
uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts, 
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because 
it maketh intercession for the saints according 
to the will of God." Kom. viii. 26, 27. And 
having this assurance that he heareth us, we 
also " know that we have the petitions that we 
desired of him." 



92 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTEE II. 

PARTICULAR APPLICATIONS. 



Having presented what appears to be the 
primary meaning of the passage of Scripture 
respecting the three witnesses, in the foregoing 
exposition, I proceed to treat of some particular 
applications of the same, having their foundation 
in Christ's mediatorial work, and being in 
accordance with the analogy of faith. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

The Three Witnesses have reference also, as it 
appears to me, to the three baptisms which char- 
acterize the Christian religion; and to which 
John the Baptist refers when speaking of differ- 
ences between his ministry and the ministry of 
Christ: U I indeed baptize you with water unto 
repentance, but he that cometh after me is 
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy 
to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit 
and with fire;" in which the baptism of fire 
answers to the blood; for these terms are both 
significant of the same thing, with, perhaps, this 
difference, that the term fire, may have reference 



The Three Witnesses. 93 

specially to the afflictions and persecutions 
which are often suffered by the people of God, 
without actually suffering martyrdom; whereas 
the term blood has special reference to the con- 
summation of those afflictions and persecutions 
in the martyr's death. Paul makes this distinc- 
tion in Heb. xii. 1-4. "Wherefore, seeing we 
also are compassed about with so great a cloud 
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and 
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us 
run with patience the race set before us, looking 
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; 
who, for the joy that was set before him endured 
the cross; despising the shame, and is set down 
at the right hand of the throne of Grod. For 
consider him that endured such contradiction of 
sinners against himself, lest ye be weary and 
faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted 
unto blood striving against sin." The blood is 
here seen to be the consummation of Christ's 
sufferings. He was obedient unto death, even 
the death of the cross. This was the baptism 
wherewith he was baptized. But the Christians 
to whom Paul wrote, though subjected to the 
baptism of fire in the endurance of affliction and 
persecution, had not yet been called to endure 
the baptism of blood; they had so far escaped 
martyrdom; they had been spared the bloody 
baptism. And we here find that the baptism of 
fire and the baptism of blood are the sam* 5 in 
nature, and differ only in degree. The term fire 
comprehends all afflictions and persecutions; thf> 



94 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

terra blood applies to their termination in mar- 
tyrdom. 

In this application of the three witnesses I 
shall not differ materially from the general view 
taken in regard to the Spirit and the water, 
though presenting the subject in a new aspect. 
The chief divergence from that view will be in 
relation to the blood, and may require some 
vindication, inasmuch as it may be objected to on 
the ground that I employ the terms fire and 
blood figuratively, while the terms spirit and 
water are used literally : an objection which, 
however plausibly made, is, I apprehend, not 
well founded, being simply a literary myth. 

Mr. Challen insists that the laws of language 
require that the terms water, and Spirit, and fire 
in Matt. hi. 4, shall be understood literally to 
denote the three elements in which the baptisms 
spoken of are made. He says: "The element 
into which the subjects of John's baptism were 
introduced was water. The elements into which 
the persons were to be introduced by Christ's 
baptism, were the Holy Spirit and fire;" page 23. 
And again: " If John literally baptized in water, 
then Jesus was literally to baptize in the Holy 
Spirit and in fire;" p. 24. And yet his illustra- 
tions are characterized by marked inconsistency, 
and fail to sustain his position. He says: u Is there 
any thing ridiculous in the idea of immersing a 
body in water or any other element? Then, 
there is none in immersing a spirit in spirit. " 
P. 26. Certainly a body may be immersed in 
water or in any other element, if that element 



The Three Witnesses. 95 

be a fluid or something which can be penetrated 
by the body, and in which the body may be 
overwhelmed. But it does not thence follow 
that a spirit maybe immersed in a spirit; unless 
the spirit to be immersed shall have a concen- 
trated organic form, and the spirit in which it is 
to be immersed shall be a diffused fluid element, 
which is beyond Mr. Challen's power to demon- 
strate. Again, speaking of the immersion of 
spirit in spirit, he says: " The latter idea is often 
expressed in our ordinary speech. We say a 
man is immersed in business — in politics— in 
pleasure — and we feel no repugnance in the use 
of such terms. And what do we mean b} r this 
language? Simply that his mind is wholly taken 
up with these things. We say that a man is 
immersed in philosophy, in mathematics, or in 
the languages, when he makes any one of these 
branches of study the chief occupation of his 
thoughts. Its use, in all these applications of it, 
is both appropriate and beautiful; and so it is 
equally appropriate and beautiful to say, certain 
minds were wholly absorbed, occupied with, or 
immersed in spirit, or in spiritual things. And 
was not this the case with the apostles?" Pp. 26, 
27. Yes, this was their case; but then these are 
not literal immersions of the persons in the things 
specified as elements. The use of the term im- 
mersed in these cases is evidently figurative. It 
is employed in connection with the things men- 
tioned as occupying a man's thoughts, to indi- 
cate a certain state of mind analagous to the 
state of the body when immersed in water. 



96 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

That is all. The meaning is that " the mind is 
wholly taken up with these things." It does 
not mean that the mind, or rather the spirit, 
was literally plunged into them and overwhelmed 
by them. And those who were the subjects of 
the Spirit's baptism," "were wholly brought 
under the influence of the Holy Spirit." They 
were " imbued with his gifts and graces." It 
does not mean that their spirits were literally 
plunged into the Holy Spirit. Thus, in his illus- 
tration of the Spirit's baptism, he departs from 
his position that it was a literal immersion of 
spirit into the element of Spirit, and assigns it a 
figurative meaning, denoting the operations of 
the Spirit, in which there is no literal immersion 
at all. 

Again, in regard to the baptism of fire, he says: 
" The unbelieving portion of the Jewish nation 
would be subjected to the baptism of fire — the 
unquenchable fire," — and that " this, literally, 
took place in the destruction of Jerusalem." P. 
103. And here he uses an event which can only 
be figuratively called a baptism in fire, for an 
illustration of a literal baptism in that element. 
The unbelieving Jews were not literally im- 
mersed in fire at the destruction of Jerusalem. 
A few of them may have perished in their burn- 
ing temple; but the term as applied to the Jewish 
people, can only be understood figuratively to 
denote their national tribulation. And this, 
then, was a baptism of fire, according to Mr. 
Challen. And by this use of the term my appli- 
cation of it, as relating to the discipline of trial 



The Three Witnesses. 97 

and affliction, is fully justified. By the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, the Jewish people were sub- 
jected to that great tribulation which must con- 
tinue until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, 
and which is called a passing through fire and 
through water: and afterwards they shall be re- 
stored again to nationality in their own land. 
Until then, their house is left unto them desolate, 
and they vainly look for the Messiah. But after 
their settlement in that land again, and when 
the Gog invasion according to Ezekiel xxxviii. 
shall have taken Jerusalem, according to Zech. 
xiv. 1, 2, Christ and his saints will appear for 
their deliverance, verses 3-9, and they shall look 
up and say: " Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord." Matt, xxiii. 39. " Lo ! this 
is our God; we have waited for him, and he will 
save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for 
him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. " 
Isa xxv. 9. " For thou, O Lord, hast proved us: 
thou hast tried us as silver is tried, (that is by 
fire). Thou broughtest us into the net, thou 
has laid affliction upon our loins. Thou hast 
caused men to ride over our heads; we went 
through fire and through water; but thou hast 
brought us out into a wealthy place." Psl. lxvi. 
10-1:4. This is the prophetical retrospection of 
the great tribulation — the baptism of fire — 
through which as a people they are now passing, 
and which will then terminate. " It is even the 
time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved 
out of it." Jer. xxx. 7. 
It is evident, then, that Mr. Challen's premises 
7 



98 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

are false, or his illustrations are inappropriate. 
Doubtless it is the former. His illustrations dis- 
prove his premises. It does not necessarily 
follow, as a law of language, that because water, 
literally, is the element in water baptism, the 
Holy Spirit and fire, literally, must be the ele- 
ments in the baptism of the Spirit and the bap- 
tism of fire. The language of the Scriptures 
knows no such law. Paul, for instance, says, 
"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, be- 
ware of the concision." Phil. iii. 2. Here two 
of the terms, evil workers and the concision are 
employed literally; must we, therefore, under- 
stand the term dogs literally? By no means. The 
term dogs is employed figuratively to denote 
quarrelsome bigots, and others who in some 
things resembled dogs. Other examples of this 
kind might be adduced, but this must suffice.' 
I hold, therefore, that the terms Holy Spirit and 
fire are not to be understood as indicating, 
literally, elements in which the Messiah would 
baptize his disciples; but simply as appropriate 
names for his spiritual and disciplinary bap- 
tisms. 

The three baptisms of Christianity have refer- 
ence to the tripartite nature of man, as set forth 
in the testimony of the Scriptures which speak 
of the body, the spirit, and the soul, as apper- 
taining to the human being. The body is the 
organism which God made originally of the dust 
of the ground. The spirit is the conscious 
entity which God created probably of the air, 
and endowed with understanding, conscience, 



Tlie Three Witnesses. 99 

and will. And the sonl is the mode of existence 
consequent upon the union of body and spirit, 
and constitutes the person. Thus it is written: 
" And the Lord God formed man of the dust of 
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life, and man became a living soul." 
Gen. ii. 7. And Elihu said: "But there is a 
spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Al- 
mighty giveth them understanding. 5 ' Job . xxxii . 
8. And Paul uses this language: " And the 
very God of peace sanctify you wholly: and I 
pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body 
be preserved blameless unto the coining of our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. v. 23. The bap- 
tism of water relates to the body, outwardly; 
the baptism of the Holy Spirit relates to the 
spirit, inwardly; and the baptism of fire relates 
to the soul or person — embracing both body and 
spirit in the sympathies, affections, and passions 
consequent upon their union, and is both out- 
ward and inward, that is, affects both body and 
spirit. The baptism of water is the application 
of water to the body in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in 
making the subjects of it disciples of the Lord 
Jesus outwardly, and is performed by the minis- 
ter of the word, in accordance with the com- 
mand, " Go ye therefore and disciple all nations, 
baptizing them," &c. The baptism of the Holy 
Spirit is the application of the truth to the mind, 
by the power and operation of God's Spirit, in 
quickening, renewing and sanctifying them that 
believe in Jesus Christ, and is effected by the 



100 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

gift of the Holy Spirit, through the mediation 
of Jesus Christ, in whom it pleased the Father 
that all fullness should dwell. And this is in 
accordance with the promise of G-od to give the 
Holy Spirit to them that ask him. The baptism 
of the Spirit is altogether independent of water 
baptism, although Peter's language in Acts ii. 
38, " Eepent and be baptized every one of you 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit, " seems to imply to the contrary. But God 
g.iveth the Holy Spirit to them that obey him; 
Acts v. 32. And Peter, in this case, simply an- 
swered the inquiry of the multitude as to what 
they must do to become Christians, and obtain 
the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Spirit. 
He was not stating terms upon which alone the 
baptism of the Spirit would be realized. We 
suppose that the disciples who met together on 
the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem to the num- 
ber of one hundred and twenty, had been pre- 
viously baptized with water according to the 
Christian formula, but there is no record of such 
a baptism in their case. It is one of the events 
which we deduce by inference from the nature of 
things. But the gift of the Holy Spirit was not 
dependent thereon. That is, the Holy Spirit was 
not given to them because they had been bap- 
tized with water, and thus outwardly brought 
into professed discipleship to Christ their risen 
and exalted head. Besides, they were a second 
time baptized with the Holy Spirit, as recorded 
Acts iv. 31: but they were not baptized with 



The Three Witnesses. 101 

water a second time. Then, the Samaritans who 
believed and were baptized with water under the 
ministration of Philip, did not receive the gift of 
the Holy Spirit until some time afterwards, 
when Peter and John, having been sent to them, 
prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 
and laid their hands on them, Acts viii. 5-17, 
and they received the Spirit in answer to prayer 
and through the imposition of hands. Again, 
in the case of Cornelius and his friends, while 
Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all 
them that heard the word; and they spake with 
tongues, and magnified G-od. Then Peter said, 
Can any man forbid water that these should not 
be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit as 
well as we? Here the baptism of the Spirit pre- 
ceded water baptism; and is assigned as a rea- 
son for its administration. Acts x. 44-48. Thus 
we learn that the apostles and others were twice 
baptized with the Spirit, and that this spiritual 
baptism sometimes preceded and sometimes 
followed water baptism, but in no case was de- 
pendent on it. "The wind bloweth where it 
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but 
canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it 
goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
John iii. 8. 

The baptism of fire is the application of afflic- 
tions, trials, and persecutions to the souls of 
God's people, as a necessary discipline to subdue 
and eradicate all evil passions from their minds, 
and to give them the victory over the flesh, and 
prepare them for exaltation and glory in the 



102 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

kingdom of heaven: and it is effected by Jesus 
Christ through the arrangements and adminis- 
tration of his providential government over the 
world. The term blood is no less appropriate as 
an appellation for this baptism than the term 
fire; for every true disciple of Jesus Christ must 
not only be tried with fiery trials, but be ready 
also, if called thereto, to suffer martydom for 
Christ's sake, and is virtually, if not actually, a 
martyr. 

1. Application to our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and 
the blood, in these connections, had a special 
application to our Lord Jesus Christ, in his con- 
secration to and preparation for the great work 
of human redemption, which, in his mediatorial 
relation, the Father had given him to do. And 

First. Jesus was baptized with water by John 
the Baptist, who was the Elias of the Jewish 
national covenant, sent to turn the hearts of the 
fathers with the children, and the hearts of the 
children with the fathers, in preparing them for 
the coming of the Lord. And he baptized them 
with the baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins, exhorting them to bring forth corres- 
ponding fruits, and not trust in their natural 
relation to Abraham as a title to the kingdom 
of heaven. But John's ministration had respect 
also to the Messiah himself; for he said: " After 
me cometh a man which is preferred before me; 
for he was before me. And I knew him not; 
but that he should be made manifest to Israel, 
therefore am I come baptizing with water." 



The Three Witnesses. 103 

John i. 30, 31. John's commission to baptize 
with water had to do with the manifestation of 
the Messiah to Israel. It was in some way to 
have a bearing on his office and work. And 
Jesus therefore came to John to be baptized of 
him. But John did not know him to be the 
Messiah. He doubtless had some acquaintance 
w r ith him, and knowledge of him, for their 
mothers were cousins, and he perhaps had been 
told by his mother that Jesus was the Messiah. 
Hence, when Jesus came to him to be baptized, 
he forbade him, and said, "I have need to be 
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" 
John said this not as a compliment to the char- 
acter of Jesus, but to test the point whether 
Jesus was the Messiah or not; for if he was the 
Messiah he would understand and state the na- 
ture and end of the baptism he asked for, and 
which John was specially commissioned to ad- 
minister for the Messiah; and in the answer of 
Jesus whatever doubt he entertained on the 
subject would be satisfied. And Jesus answered, 
" Suffer it to be so now; for thus it become th us 
to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered 
him. " The answer obviated John's objection, and 
furnished him with evidence that Jesus was the 
Christ. And he baptized him as the Christ, the 
nature and end of that baptism having been 
indicated in the answer Jesus gave to his objec- 
tion. Let us see: 

Jesus was not baptized unto repentance for the 
remission of sins; for he was without sin. He 
could neither repent nor be forgiven, for he was 



104 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin- 
ners. It would, therefore, have been obviously 
incongruous to have baptized him unto repent- 
ance. It would have been an implication that 
he was not the Son of G-od — not the holy One of 
Israel. Jesus could not consistently have sought 
such a baptism, nor truthfully have submitted 
to it. The subjects of that baptism made confes- 
sion of their sins; but Jesus had no sins to con- 
fess. 

Again, Jesus was not baptized with the bap- 
tism of discipleship as our example; for he could 
not be made a disciple unto himself, nor assume 
the obligations of discipleship to any one else; 
being himself the Lord and Master of all. To 
have become a disciple of John would have been 
to place himself in a false position. In him 
dwelt all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 
and even at twelve years old he entered the 
temple and stood in the presence of the doctors, 
not as an inquirer, but as an expounder of truth. 

Why, then, was Jesus baptized? It was to 
fulfill a righteous ordinance in his consecration 
as our great High Priest. This was what his 
answer indicated, and hence, John, being satis- 
fied that he was the Messiah, baptized him. The 
law of priesthood required that the person to be 
consecrated should first be washed or baptized 
with water. "And Aaron and his sons thou 
shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of 
the congregation, and shalt wash them with 
water." Ex. xxix. 4. This was the ordinance 
of righteousness which it became the Messiah 



The Three Witnesses. 105 

to fulfill. And Jesus having reached the age of 
thirty years, which was the age of consecration, 
came to John to be baptized of him. Jesus did 
not come promiscuously among the people for 
baptism. Nothing is more observable than that, 
while by incarnation he came within the sphere 
of humanity, he ever, by word and deed, main- 
tained his separateness as the Son of G-od. And 
in his baptism this separateness is observed. 
"Now when all the people were baptized, it 
came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, 
and praying, the heaven was opened, and the 
Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a 
dove upon him." Luke hi. 21, 22. In whatever 
manner John baptized the multitudes who daily 
came to him, Jesus did not present himself 
among them, nor was he baptized with them. 
On the day of his baptism he waited until all the 
people who came for baptism had been baptized; 
and then presented himself separate and alone 
for a separate and distinct baptism, in the fulfil- 
ment of the righteous ordinance of priestly con- 
secration. And this righteous ordinance, as far 
as related to the washing with water, was ful- 
filled in his baptism. And so far John's minis- 
try extended in the manifestation of the Messiah 
to Israel. 

Another part of the consecration to the priest- 
hood was that of being anointed with oil. 
" Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and 
pour it upon his head, and anoint him." Ex. 
xxix. 7. And so, immediately after his baptism, 
in fulfilment of this part of the ordinance of con- 



106 The Doctrine of Baptisms, 

secration, u G-od anointed Jesus of Nazareth 
with the Hoty Spirit and with power." Acts x. 
38. And this completed the manifestation on 
that occasion; for "John bare record, saying, 
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a 
dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him 
not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, 
the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, 
the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy 
Spirit. And I saw and bare record, that this is 
the Son of *God. " John i. 32-34. " At the same 
time there came a voice from heaven, saying, 
Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased. ' ' And this voice proves that this trans- 
action was the consecration of Jesus Christ as 
our High Priest; for Paul says, "No man 
taketh this honor unto himself; but he that is 
called of God as was Aaron: so also Christ glori- 
fied not himself to be made a High Priest, but 
he that said to him, Thou art my Son, to day 
have I begotten thee." Heb. v. 4, 5. This say- 
ing is adduced in Psalm ii. 7, as the decree by 
which Christ was made king. And by the same 
decree he was made a priest; and so the only 
two occasions mentioned in the Gospels in which 
the Pather, by an audible voice, declared Jesus 
to be his Son, were the baptism and the transfi- 
guration — the latter being a miniature represen- 
tation of the kingdom, and the former his conse- 
cration to the priesthood. Without doubt, then, 
this was the nature of his baptism. It was the 
washing of consecration. This was the end for 



The Three Witnesses. 107 

which he was baptized, and in the very act of 
consummating the consecration by the anointing 
of the Spirit, the Father glorified him as our 
High Priest by the voice from heaven, u Thou 
art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. " 
Thus was Jesus consecrated as a priest by his 
baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

But this was not all. It was requisite that he 
should undergo a disciplinary preparation for 
the priesthood, even the baptism of fire, to be at 
last consummated in his crucifixion by the bap- 
tism of blood. And immediately he was led by 
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of 
the devil. "For we have not a high priest 
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as 
we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15. This 
was the beginning of his fiery baptism, and it 
was continued during his ministry by the con- 
tradiction of sinners against himself which he 
endured. " For though he were a Son, yet 
learned he obedience by the things which he 
suffered; and being made perfect, he became the 
author of eternal salvation, unto all them that 
obey him." Heb. v. 8. 9. To this baptism he 
had reference when he said to James and John, 
"Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and 
be baptized with the baptism wherewith I am 
baptized?" It was the discipline of trial in a 
world of wicked men, who despised and rejected 
him, and rewarded him evil for good. And 
which would be consummated in his death, in 
the baptism of blood, of which he saM, " I have 



108 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

a baptism to be baptized with, and how am 1 
straitened till it be accomplished?" Luke xii. 
50. And besides other ends or purposes to be 
effected by his sufferings, one was to qualify him 
for the work of the priest. As Paul says again, 
" Wherefore in all things, it behooved him to be 
made like unto his brethren; that he might be a 
merciful and faithful High Priest, in things per- 
taining to God, to make reconciliation for the 
sins of the people. For in that he himself hath 
suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor 
them that are tempted." Heb. ii. 17, 18. 

Here, then, we find these three witnesses, the 
Spirit, the water, and the blood, in these three 
baptisms, bearing witness that Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God, having been manifested in the flesh, 
was legitimately consecrated to, and qualified 
for the office and work of our great High Priest, 
who after he had, "through the eternal Spirit, 
offered himself without spot to God," as a 
" sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right 
hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his 
enemies be made his footstool." And in this 
testimony the three agree in one. The impor- 
tance of this testimony cannot be adequately 
estimated except by the end to be achieved by 
it, which is to furnish the ground of faith in 
Christ's divine priesthood, and give to ail who 
believe in him assurance of eternal life. In the 
consecration of priests under the Aaronic cove- 
nant, though they only served unto the example 
and shadow of heavenly things, and were types 
of a better priesthood, yet their Divine appoint- 



The Three Witnesses. 109 

ment was duly certified, and their consecration 
verified to Israel by appropriate ceremonies; 
otherwise the people could have no confidence in 
their ministrations. The offerings of a self-ap- 
pointed priesthood could not be accepted of God, 
nor profitable to man. And not only must the 
appointment be divine, but it must be known to 
be divine. Hence it was necessary that the Di- 
vine appointment of Christ as our High Priest 
in things pertaining to God, should be properly 
attested, and his consecration openly manifested 
and adequately verified. And in the testimony 
of the three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and 
the blood, in these three baptisms, he is set forth 
as a divinely constituted priest, in whose minis- 
tration we can implicitly trust. " Seeing, then, 
that we have a great High Priest, that is passed 
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us 
hold fast our profession." For our confidence 
in him will never be disappointed; our trust in 
his mediation will never be confounded. His 
ministrations are valid. His sacrificial offering 
is set forth as a full atonement for all sin. And 
he is able to save them to the uttermost who 
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to 
make intercession for them. For Christ is not 
entered into the holy places made with hands, 
which are the figures of the true; but into heaven 
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for 
us. And this is the confidence that we have in 
him, that if we ask any thing according to his 
will he heareth us. Let us therefore come boldly 



110 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

to the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

2. Application to believers in Christ. 

The three witnesses have an application to all 
true believers in Jesus Christ as subjects of the 
three baptisms. The commission of Christ to 
his apostles and their successors in the ministry 
of the word, authorized them to make disciples 
of all nations outwardly, by baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to observe 
all things which he had commanded. This com- 
mission is based upon the power given to him by 
the Father by which all things in heaven and in 
earth are subjected to him. u And Jesus came 
and spake unto them, saying, All power is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there- 
fore and disciple all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit." The baptism here enjoined is 
water baptism, and the water in this ordinance 
may be said to bear witness to Jesus Christ, 
whose disciples they became who were baptized 
in accordance with it. And in every place where 
the gospel is preached and this baptism is ad- 
ministered, there testimony is borne to the head- 
ship and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. It wit- 
nesseth also that whosoever is baptized is brought 
into the relation of cliscipleship outwardly to him, 
to be taught through the ministry of his word to 
observe all things which he commanded. But 
many are brought into this relation and acknow- 
ledgment of the Lordship of Christ, who do 



The Three Witnesses. Ill 

not obey him and become his disciples indeed. 
The}^ rest in the external witness or outward 
profession in putting away the filth of the flesh 
by water baptism, without obtaining the internal 
witness or testimony of a good conscience 
towards God in the renewing of the Holy Spirit. 
They have the form of godliness but remain 
destitute of its power; and without the prwer 
they come short of salvation. ~No observance of 
religious rites or ceremonies alone, as of sacrifice 
and offering under the Mosaic dispensation or of 
water baptism and the Lord's supper under the 
Christian dispensation, can save. Religious rites 
divinely appointed should not be neglected, and 
when observed in a spirit of obedience, are ac- 
ceptable to G-od and beneficial to us; but in them- 
selves they are not saving, nor indispensable to 
salvation. The Scribes and Pharisees of old 
were very strict in observing the ritual of that 
economy, but Christ said: "Except your right- 
eousness shall exceed the righteousness of the 
Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter 
the kingdom of heaven." And between the 
essentials and non-essentials of that economy 
he makes this distinction: " These things " — the 
essentials "ought ye to have done, and not to 
leave the others "—the non-essentials s ' undone. " 
Essentials are indispensable — non-essentials, 
though not indispensable, are important. The 
water in baptism, as the external and ceremonial 
witness of the Lordship of Christ and our pro- 
fessed discipleship, is important, and should not 
be neglected. 



112 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit in its renew- 
ing and regenerating influences is indispensable 
under all the dispensations of grace in the 
economy of redemption. The Spirit was given 
in the antediluvian age, in accordance with the 
religious institutions of that age; as is evident 
from the Divine testimony in saying, " My Spirit 
shall not always strive with man." And the 
exhortation and promise found in Prov. i. 23, 
" Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour 
out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my 
words unto you," are applicable in all the Divine 
dispensations. Without this pouring out of the 
Spirit — this saving baptism — there would be no 
efficacy in means. The Spirit operates with the 
means, and makes the means effectual. The 
truth as revealed or manifested in each dispen- 
sation is the instrumentality of regeneration. As 
James says, " Of his own will begat he us with 
the word of truth." Additional revelations of 
truth involve additional manifestations of the 
Spirit. The humiliation, sacrificial death, resur- 
rection and ascension of Christ at the commence- 
ment of the Christian dispensation made a fuller 
manifestation of the Spirit possible; and since 
the day of Pentecost the Spirit has been given 
in accordance with the facts and truths then 
revealed, and has used them effectually in re- 
newing the minds and sanctifying the hearts of 
believers. It is the baptism of the Spirit which, 
by this spiritual renewing and purifying, makes 
us disciples indeed. And all who are the sub- 
jects of this baptism are born of the Spirit — 



The Three Witnesses. 113 

regenerated with the word of truth: so that as 
John says, " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is 
the Christ is born of God," he is made a new 
creature in Christ Jesus: he is baptized into 
Christ by this operation of the Spirit. He puts 
off, in this spiritual baptism, the old man with 
his deeds, and puts on the new man, which is 
renewed in knowledge after the image of Him 
that created him. By the same baptism also the 
affections are changed " to love him that begat," 
and to u love all who are begotten of him;" for 
the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by 
the Holy Spirit which he hath given us. And 
this love prompts to obedience, giving full as- 
surance to the child of God, of his having passed 
from death unto life by the demonstrative work- 
ings of love in keeping the commandments of 
God, and by taking pleasure in them. And 
being born of God, he overcomes the world 
through faith in the things unseen and eternal. 
And who is he that overcometh the world, but 
he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 
This is the state of grace into which the believer 
in Jesus is brought through the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit, and of which John treats in the 
first five verses of this chapter; and is directly 
connected with the testimony of the three wit- 
nesses by verse sixth. " This " — the Jesus on 
whom he believes — "is he that came by water 
and by blood;" — that made an atonement for sin 
on the cross, by the shedding of his blood, drawn 
forth from his heart by the soldier's spear, and 
which with the water demonstrated the verity of 
8 



114 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

his death in voluntarily laying down his life for 
us. And which, corroborated by the Spirit's 
witness, becomes the object of his faith. And 
believing in Christ, he has the witness in him- 
self; for the Spirit which testifies of the suffer- 
ings of Christ for the sins of men, employs that 
testimony in renewing the mind and sanctifying 
the heart of him who receives the word by faith. 
And thus the witness is twofold, that in the word 
of truth, and that in the consciousness of the 
believer — that respecting the atoning sacrifice of 
Christ on the cross, and that respecting the new 
birth and forgiveness of sins, in the believer 
himself. In the first, it testifies that Jesus is the 
Son of God; in the second, that we are the sons 
of God by faith in him. In the first, it testifies 
that the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin; 
in the second, that our sins are forgiven for his 
name's sake. In short, the Spirit beareth wit- 
ness with our spirits that we are born of God. 

Jesus, after his baptism, and during the min- 
istry of John the Baptist, attended the passover 
at Jerusalem and had his interview with Kicode- 
mus, a ruler of the Jews, who, being convinced 
that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, came 
to him for instruction on the great subject then 
agitating the Jewish mind — the kingdom of God 
and the qualification necessary to obtain it. The 
preaching of John the Baptist, " Bepent ye; for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand," had 
awakened a general expectation of its immediate 
coming, and a desire to be prepared for it. And 
the object of John's ministry was to prepare the 



The Three Witnesses. 115 

way of the Lord by the reformation of the peo- 
ple. The Jews, and especially the Scribes and 
Pharisees, and priests and rulers, entertained the 
idea that, as descendants of Abraham, they 
were entitled to the possession of the kingdom. 
The moral qualification was overlooked or else 
substituted by a scrupulous attention to ceremo- 
nial purifications and ecclesiastical traditions. 
The mind of Kicodemus was no doubt tinctured 
with these opinions; yet he was a sincere in- 
quirer after truth, and Jesus said to him, 
" Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man 
be born from above he cannot see the kingdom 
of G-od. " The word o.vajdev, " from above, " also 
signifies u again," &c. Nicodemus, taking that to 
be the meaning, understood it in a carnal sense, 
and in astonishment exclaimed, "How can a 
man be born when he is old? Can he enter a 
second time into his mother's womb and be 
born?" But Jesus, correcting his error, an- 
swered, " Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except 
a man be born of water and Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is 
born of the flesh, is flesh, and that which is born 
of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said' 
unto thee, Ye must be born from above." Here 
to be born of water and Spirit is explanatory of 
being born from above, and was designed to cor- 
rect the mistakes of Mcodemus. There is an 
admitted allusion to water baptism here in the 
phrase, "born of water." It may be to the 
" divers baptisms " of ceremonial purification of 
which Paul speaks, Heb. ix. 10, or to proselytical 



116 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

baptism as practiced by them in admitting the 
heathen into the Israelitish community, or to 
John's baptism of repentance, or, in general, 
to all of them, so far as they related to a change 
of state and implied a cleansing from sin; but 
has no allusion to any particular mode of bap- 
tism, as some have supposed. Christian baptism 
was not then instituted; for it was not until after 
Jesus had risen from the dead, that he issued the 
commission to his apostles to go and disciple all 
nations, baptizing them. And the allusion of 
Jesus must have been to some existing baptism 
then known to Mcodemus — a baptism also hav- 
ing a connection with the expectation of the 
Jews as based upon their national Sinaitic cove- 
nant, and hence appears to have reference to the 
baptisms of purification commanded in the 
Mosaic ritual, the neglect of which subjected the 
unclean person to excision from the common- 
wealth of Israel. The phrase "born of water " 
is here used only in a figurative sense, and signi- 
fies to be washed or cleansed from sin by the 
word of truth, as those baptismal purifications 
cleansed from ceremonial pollutions. Paul says, 
" For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the 
ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanc- 
tifieth to the purifying of the flesh; How much 
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the 
eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to 
God, purge your conscience from dead works to 
serve the living God." Heb. ix. 13, 14. There 
was in those baptismal purifications a literal 
sprinkling of the unclean person with the blood 



The Three Witnesses. 117 

of bulls and of goats, and the water of separa- 
tion prepared with the ashes of the burnt heifer, 
and as these were typical of the purifying of our 
hearts by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, 
the Scriptures speak of this spiritual cleansing 
as, the washing of water by the word, and the 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And 
this washing and sprinkling is not to be under- 
stood literally, but figuratively. Thus in Ezekiel 
xxxvi. 25, 26, God says: "Then will I sprinkle 
clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; 
from all your filthiness and from all your idols 
will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give 
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and 
I will take away the stony heart out of your 
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." This 
is to be "bom of water and Spirit." Paul 
speaks of this Divine birth of water when he 
says that "Christ loved the Church, and gave 
himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse 
it by the washing of water by the word." Eph. v. 
25, 26. And also when he says of the Corinth- 
ians, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, 
but ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. " 1 Cor. vi. 
11. And Peter speaks of it as " being born again 
iavaj-eyewyfjievoe, being regenerated) not of 
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word 
of God, which liveth and abicleth for ever," and 
which is preached unto us by the gospel. 1 Peter 
23, 25. From these Scriptures we learn, as Dr. 
Carson says, that "to be 'born of water ' as a 
figurative expression, signifies to be washed or 



118 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

cleansed from sin " and " a man may be c born 
of water ' without having water literally applied 
to him. He is born of water when he is washed 
from sin." And "the word is the means by 
which the believer is washed in the blood of 
Christ." Again, " In Kev. i. 5, Christ is said to 
wash us from our sins in his own blood. Christ 
washes us by his Spirit in his blood; but his 
blood is the cleansing element in which we are 
washed. This shows that to be c born of water, 
is to be washed in the blood of Christ." And 
Peter speaks of saints as being " elect according 
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through 
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 
1, 2. The "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus 
Christ" is not a literal sprinkling, but is that 
cleansing indicated by the ceremonial sprinklings 
of the Mosaic economy: " For when Moses had 
spoken every precept to all the people according 
to the law, he took the blood of calves and of 
goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, 
and sprinkled both the book and all the people, 
saying, This is the blood of the testament which 
God hath enjoined unto you." Heb. ix. 19, 20. 
Here we have the water and the blood employed 
typically in one of the divers baptisms instituted 
of old to illustrate the washing away of sin by 
the blood of Christ. 

To be " born of water and of the Spirit," then, 
refers to the purging of the conscience from dead 
works to serve the living and true God, and the 
renewal of the mind in knowledge, righteousness 



The Three Witnesses. 119 

and true holiness, which is effected by the Spirit 
of God through the word of truth wherein the 
blood of Christ is set forth as a propitiation for 
sin. It was not a carnal birth, but a spiritual and 
heavenly birth which was indicated. And it was 
designed to teach Nicodemus that the natural 
seed of Abraham could not inherit the kingdom 
of God by virtue of their carnal relationship, 
and thus cut off his false dependence. It was to 
teach him that there was another relation to 
Abraham founded in faith; and that all who be- 
lieve in the Christ are Abraham's seed, and shall 
be blest with faithful Abraham. This was also 
the substance of John's teaching and the import 
of his baptism, in which Jesus employed his dis- 
ciples for a short time in the land of Judea, 
according to John iii. 22-26, and iv. 1, 2. 

Again, if we are the children of God, we are 
subject to his fatherly chastening; for there is no 
son whom the Father chasteneth not. Hence the 
exhortation, "My Son, despise not thou the 
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art 
rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he 
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he 
receive th. " This divine chastening embraces all 
manner of afflictions, trials, and persecutions 
which are either positively or permissively ap- 
pointed unto the followers of Christ for the trial 
of their faith and the purifying of their hearts, 
in preparing them for exaltation, glory, and 
blessedness hereafter. So Paul says, " For unto 
you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not only 
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his 



120 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

sake." Phil. i. 29. And Peter says, " Beloved, 
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, 
which is to try you, as though some strange thing 
happened unto you; but rejoice inasmuch as ye 
are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that when 
his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad with 
exceeding joy." 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13. The " fiery 
trial " and the u baptism of fire " are the same 
thing. And to be " partakers of Christ's suffer- 
ings," is to " drink of his cup " and to be " bap- 
tized with his baptism. " And Paul says, 1 Thess. 
iii. 3, that " we are appointed thereunto." Our 
Heavenly Father sees that the discipline is 
needed, and hence it is wisely ordained that, as 
Jesus said, " In the world we shall have tribula- 
tion, " John xvi. 33; for " tribulation worketh pa- 
tience, and patience experience, and experience 
hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the 
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
Holy Spirit which is given unto us. " Eom. v. 3-5. 
The discipline is appointed on account of the 
spiritual benefits to be secured thereby to the 
child of God. Afflictions and trials serve to 
detach our affections from the world, and to 
empty our hearts of earthly love, that so the love 
of God may be shed abroad in our hearts, and 
that we may be filled with the fullness of God. 

It is with a gracious design that God appoints 
the baptism of fire, "For as the sufferings of 
Christ abound in us, so our consolation also 
aboundeth by Christ;" and "as ye are par- 
takers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of 
the consolation." 2 Cor. i. 5, 7. " For if we 



The Three Witnesses. 121 

suffer, we shall also reign with him." 2 Tim. ii. 
12. And " If so be that we suffer with him, 
that we may be also glorified together." Rom. 
viii. 17. " For our light affliction which is but for 
a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
Again, "We are troubled on every side, yet not 
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not 
destroyed: always bearing about in the body the 
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of 
Jesus might be made manifest in our body." 
2 Cor. iv. 8-10. Here the " sufferings of Christ," 
and the "dying of the Lord Jesus," are terms 
expressive of our being baptized of him with 
fire or blood, and of knowing him in the "fel- 
lowship of his sufferings, being made conform- 
able unto his death." And the design is that 
the glory of the future in reigning with Christ 
may be thereby enhanced. It is to whiten the 
robe and brighten the crown; and of all such as 
endure this baptism it is said, " These are they 
which came out of great tribulation and have 
washed their robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb. " Rev. vii. 14. Atonement 
for sin is made by the blood of Christ alone, and 
therefore we are cleansed from sin and reconciled 
to God by the blood of his cross. His sufferings 
alone are propitiatory; but inasmuch as believers 
in him are made one with him, and constituted 
thereby joint heirs with him to an incorrupt^ le 
and undefiled inheritance, they must be made 
perfect through sufferings as he was made per- 



122 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

feet through sufferings. And the sufferings of 
the saints, draw all their efficacy for good from 
the sufferings of Christ. It is the believer's 
union with Christ by faith which sanctifies afflic- 
tion as a means of holiness. For without this 
union afflictions have no sanctifying power, no 
redeeming efficacy. The fire which only con- 
sumed the bonds of God's people, because Christ 
was with them in the furnace, consumed the 
bodies of those who cast them in. Those who 
are without Christ are consumed by the stroke 
of Jehovah's rod. But of his own people he 
says, " Behold, I have refined thee, but not with 
silver: I have chosen thee in the furnace of afflic- 
tion." Isa. xlviii. 10. "For he said, Surely 
they are my people, children that will not lie; so 
he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he 
was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved 
them. ' ' Isa . lxiii. 8. 9. And herein is the blood 
a witness to the saving and sanctifying power of 
Christ, "who loved us and gave himself for us, 
that he might redeem us from all iniquity and 
purify us unto himself, a peculiar people, zealous 
of good works, and so qualify us to be kings and 
priests unto God that we may reign with him in 
his everlasting kingdom. ' ' And to all who would 
be partakers of the glory which shall be revealed, 
he says, as he said to James and John, u Are ye 
able to drink of my cup and to be baptized with 
my baptism?" My cup is the cup of affliction 
and trial; my baptism is the baptism of blood. 
Can you endure the fiery trial? Can you bear 
the cross of ignominy and death? They said: 



The Three Witnesses. 123 

"TVeare able?" Can we also answer affirma- 
tively? If you are not only baptized with water 
in being made a disciple of Jesus outwardly; but 
also baptized of the Spirit in being regenerated, 
and so born of God, then you can and will drink 
of the cup of his sufferings and be baptized with 
his baptism of fire or blood, and through much 
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 

It is not every one that is able to drink of his 
cup and be baptized with his baptism. Jesus 
says: "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for 
many shall seek to enter in and shall not be 
able." Many who profess discipleship have no 
root in themselves, but endure for a while; for 
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because 
of the word, by and by they are offended. They 
cannot stand the baptism of fire because they 
have never been baptized with the Holy Spirit, 
which is essential to true discipleship; for if any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of 
his. The baptism of water does not give a man 
the Spirit of Christ; does not make him a new 
creature in Christ, and therefore does not qualify 
him for the endurance of trial. But in the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit is included the " washing 
of water by the word" or the being "born of 
water," which figuratively means to be cleansed 
from sin by the blood of Christ, outwardly sig- 
nified by water baptism; but which is realized 
by all who believe in Christ though not baptized 
with water. It is by this inward "washing of 
water by the word " that Christ, who loved the 
church and gave himself for it, will sanctify and 



124 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

cleanse it, that he may present it unto himself, 
a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or 
any such thing, but that it should be holy and 
without blemish. 

The baptism of the Spirit is also called an 
anointing, 1 John ii. 27. "But the anointing 
which ye have received of him abideth in you, 
and ye need not that any man teach you; but as 
the same anointing teacheth you of all things, 
and is truth, and is no lie; and even as it hath 
taught you, ye shall abide in him." And in 2 
Cor. i. 21. "Now he which stablisheth us with 
you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God." 
This anointing is evidently the same thing as 
the baptism of the Spirit; and all true believers 
are thus anointed with the Spirit of God, bring- 
ing them into oneness with Christ, the Lord's 
anointed, and heirs with him in his future 
glorious kingdom. And in this connection, these 
three baptisms, the Spirit, the water, and the 
blood, are our consecration to priesthood and 
kingship with Christ. Hence the saints are 
represented as saying in their response to Jesus 
Christ, the Prince of the kings of the earth, that 
is to him as their prince, for they shall be kings 
and priests and shall reign on the earth (Rev. v. 
10) when he shall take the kingdom, " Unto him 
that loved us and washed us from our sins in 
his own blood; and hath made us kings and 
priests unto God, and his Father, to him be 
glory and dominion for ever and ever." Rev. i. 
5, 6. In this connection the baptism of water 
is not indispensable, for the saints of other dis- 



The Three Witnesses. 125 

pensations were not baptized with water at all; 
and nothing is indispensable that is not essential 
m all dispensations. John says: "Whosoever be- 
lie veth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." 
I John v. 1. And we may believe that Jesus is 
the Christ without being baptized with water. 
Again he says: " But as many as received him, 
to them gave he power to become the sons of 
God, even to them that believe on his name." 
John i. 12. The power given to them that be- 
lieve on him is the Holy Spirit by which they 
are regenerated and made the children of God 
through faith. And this is the baptism of the 
Spirit which is indispensable: without which 
none can be children of God nor heirs with 
Christ. This is the anointing also by which we 
obtain the witness that we are children, and if 
children, heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ to an inheritance in his kingdom. 

The baptism of fire or blood is the discipline 
of those who are made children and heirs. This 
discipline is appointed for their good. Job 
understood this, for he says, c i Though he slay 
me yet will I trust in him," and u When he 
hath tried me I shall come forth as gold." Paul 
understood this, for he says: "For which cause 
we faint not; but though our outward man 
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by 
day; for our light affliction, which is but for a 
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory." Gold is put into 
the crucible and tried with fire, not to destroy it, 
but to purify it and fit it for noble uses. And 



126 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

the saints are baptized with fire, not to destroy 
their faith, but that it may be found unto praise 
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus 
Christ. Hence, "blessed is the man that en- 
dureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall 
receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath 
promised to them that love him." 



DOOTBIKE OF BAPTISMS. 

PAET III. 

Making Disciples, 



PEEFAOE. 



The controversy on water baptism, as to both 
subjects and modes, has engaged the attention 
of some of the ripest scholars on both sides of 
the questions involved in it; and numerous 
volumes have evidenced the deep interest and 
exhaustive research it has awakened. Some- 
times a degree of bitterness has been mingled 
with this controversy altogether unbecoming in 
those professing to be followers of Jesus Christ; 
and ridicule has too often been substituted for 
argument. Yet there has been much earnest 
and candid investigation of the subject to find 
the truth, and praiseworthy attempts to exhibit 
the same in a Christian spirit. Still even under 
such circumstances, and with such motives, men 
are liable to err, and, therefore, all human pro- 
ductions must be brought to the test of Scrip- 
ture and reason in an humble and prayerful 
dependence on the Holy Spirit for Divine guid- 
ance. Thus have I sought to find the truth, and 
having been directed in a way I had not known, 
to results which appear conclusive to my own 
mind, I have here endeavored to present the 
same to the minds of others, in a Christian spirit, 
and in such a manner as to lead them to a con- 
riction of the truth as I find it in the Scriptures. 
My object is not to provoke controversy, but to 
advance the cause of truth; and if I have erred, 
I shall be eternally obliged to any one who will 
point out the error and set me right. 

129 



THE 

Doctrine or Baptisms. 



PAET III. 
MAKING DISCIPLES. 



41 GO YE, THEREFORE, AND DISCIPLE ALL NATIONS."— JeSUS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The commission of Christ to his apostles, and 
to their successors in the ministry of the gospel, 
is found in Matt, xxviii. 18-20: "And Jesus came 
and spoke unto them saying, All power is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth. Gro ye, there- 
fore, and disciple all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and 
lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the 
age." It was given on the day of his ascension 
into heaven. The work he came in the flesh to 
do was accomplished. By his obedience as the 
second Adam, he had procured a reversal of the 

(131) 



132 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

penalty which came on the human race by the 
disobedience of the first Adam: and ensured the 
resurrection of all men from the dead. By the 
sacrificial offering of himself on the cross he had 
made an atonement for sin, and laid the founda- 
tion for the redemption of all who believe in him 
unto eternal life by the first resurrection. By 
his obedience he obtained the dominion of the 
world. By his sacrificial offering he redeems out 
of the world a peculiar people to be associated 
with himself in its government. In dispensations 
previous to his incarnation, though the truth 
was but dimly displayed in types and shadows, 
in promise and prophecies, a remnant of the 
several generations of mankind had been saved 
through those means and agencies. A fuller 
manifestation of truth was now being made by 
his incarnation, his ministry, his death, his 
resurrection and his ascension: even the types 
and shadows of an obsolete economy became 
brilliant, and promises and prophecies glowed in 
the light of their fulfillment; giving assurance of 
the complete accomplishment, in due season, of 
the purpose of God, to reconcile all things to 
himself by Jesus Christ; and a more enlarged 
dispensation of grace was to be instituted for the 
purpose of taking out of the Gentiles a people 
for his name. In instituting this dispensation, 
Christ asserts, as the ground of it, his supremacy 
over all in heaven and in earth. For, inasmuch 
as, in his incarnation, he divested himself of the 
form or condition of Divine glory which he, as 
the Son of God, had with the Father before the 



Making Disciples. 133 

world was, " and made himself of no reputation, 
and took the condition of a servant, and was 
made in the likeness of men, and being found in 
fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became 
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, 
God hath highly exalted him, and given him a 
name which is above every name, that at the 
name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those 
in heaven, and those in earth, and those under 
the earth; and that every tongue should confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the 
Father." Phil. ii. 6-11. And though as yet all 
things are not put in actual subjection to him, 
he is exalted to the right hand of God, and en- 
trusted with all power in heaven, and in earth 
to effect that subjection. And he was about to 
ascend to the throne of God in heaven when he 
gave this commission to his apostle. Hence it 
emanates from the highest authority; from the 
Lord of all, and is enforced by illimitable power. 



134 The Doctrine of Baptisms 



CHAPTER I. 

THE COMMISSION. 



This commission is to disciple all nations, 
for all belong to his dominion, and are compre- 
hended in this dispensation of his grace. "While 
the Israelites were under trial according to the 
terms of the national covenant, he suffered the 
other nations to walk in their own way; though 
he left not himself without witness, in that he did 
good, and gave them rain from heaven, and fruit- 
ful seasons, filling their hearts with food and glad- 
ness; thus furnishing them with evidences of his 
existence and his goodness, that they might feel 
after him, if haply they might find him, who is not 
far from every one of us; for in him we live and 
move and have our being. But now, the trial 
of Israel being ended, and their national cove- 
nant, which, in its exclusiveness, was enmity 
to the Gentiles, being abrogated because of their 
disobedience; the mystery which in other ages 
was not made known to the sons of men, was re- 
vealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by 
the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow 
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his 
promise in Christ, by the gospel. Eph. iii. 5, 6. 



Making Disciples. 135 

Hence he said, " Go ye, therefore, and disciple 
all nations," for now they who were afar off, as 
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and 
strangers from the covenants of promise, having 
no hope and without God in the world, were 
made nigh by the blood of Christ. And the 
middle wall of partition between the Jew and 
the Gentile was broken down by this commission, 
that he might reconcile both unto God in one 
body by the cross; being by the Spirit baptized 
into that one body. 

The Mosaic dispensation, founded on the 
Sinaic covenant, was for one nation only; and to 
that people pertained, according to its provisions, 
the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, 
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, 
and the promises; though others might become 
partakers of these blessings by being incorporated 
into the nation, through the ordinance of prose- 
lytism. The Israelitish Sinaic Covenant was 
subsequent to the Abrahamic covenant, and 
while it continued, it made promise of the heir- 
ship in the kingdom of God to them nationally, 
in natural flesh, on condition of their obedience 
to its requirements. It did not set aside or 
supersede the Abrahamic covenant, which con- 
tinued in force as a law of grace, upon which 
the Israelite, when convinced by the law of 
works as a transgressor, might, in faith, fall back, 
and find justification and salvation. And when 
their national trial ended, and the Sinaic cove- 
nant was abrogated, the Abrahamic covenant 
remained, ensuring heirship in the kingdom of 



136 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

God to the children of promise; that is to those 
who were born of God by faith in the promise. 

The gospel dispensation, founded on the Abra- 
hamic covenant, extends the provisions of that 
covenant to all nations, according to that which 
is written, " A father of many nations have I 
made thee. ' 5 Hence we find that the commission , 
"Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations," 
&c, is contained in the covenant God made 
with Abraham, who against hope believed in 
hope that he might become the father of many 
nations, according to that which was spoken, So 
shall thy seed be. This commission, then, was 
designed to carry into effect the Abrahamic cove- 
nant, by breaking down the wall of exclusive- 
ness founded on the Israelitish national covenant, 
and extending the promise of heirship to all 
nations on condition of faith in Christ, according 
to the original grant. For Christ hath redeemed 
us from the curse of the violated law, being made 
a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every 
one that hangeth on a tree; that the blessing of 
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through 
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise 
of the Spirit through faith. The commission 
to disciple all nations is not a new system of re- 
demption, separate and distinct from the pre- 
vious dispensations of grace; but is only a new 
measure adapted and designed to bring all na- 
tions into the Abrahamic covenant, to bring them 
under the influence of the truth as it is in Jesus 
for their instruction and salvation. The gospel 
of Christ is not another gospel than that which 



Making Disciples, 137 

was preached to Abraham, or to them of old 
time. And the dispensation comes within the 
provisions of the Abrahamic covenant. Hence 
Paul speaks of the unbelieving Jews as natural 
branches of the good olive tree — the Abrahamic 
covenant — broken off because of their unbelief; 
and the Gentile believers as branches taken from 
the wild olive tree, and grafted into the good 
olive tree in the place of those broken off. This 
also agrees with our Lord's parable of the mar- 
riage made for the king's son, wherein the first 
invited guests represent the Jews, who made 
light of it, and were excluded; and the sending 
forth of the servants into the highways and 
hedges to invite all they could find, represents 
the calling of the Gentiles, according to this com- 
mission, "Go ye, therefore, and disciple all 
nations." 

The work to be done is to disciple all nations, 
and this includes every thing within the compass 
of the ministry of reconciliation; the chief of 
which is to preach the gospel; to call upon all men 
every where to repent; to open their eyes; and 
turn them from darkness to light, and from the 
power of Satan unto God; that they may receive 
the forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among 
them that are sanctified by faith in Christ. Acts 
xxvi. 18. It includes, also, the administration 
of the ordinances, and the instruction and estab- 
lishment of believers in the most holy faith of 
the gospel. All agencies and means ordained of 
Christ for the salvation of mankind are embraced 
in this commission. For when he ascended up 



138 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts 
unto men. And he gave some, apostles; and 
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, 
pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the 
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edi- 
fying of the body of Christ, till we all come, in 
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of 
the Son of G-od, unto a perfect man, unto the 
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 
Eph. iv. 11-13. To these agencies he says, 4 ' Go 
ye, therefore, and disciple all nations;" "Go ye 
into all the world and preach the gospel to every 
creature." Mark xvi. 15. And, Thus it is 
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and 
to rise from the dead the third day, and that re- 
pentance and remission of sins should be preached 
in his name among all nations, beginning at 
Jerusalem. Luke xxiv. 46, 47; and again, Feed 
my lambs. Feed my sheep. John xxi. 15, 16, 
17. And again, And ye shall be witnesses unto 
me. both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth. Acts i. 8. And Paul speaks of having 
received grace and apostleship for obedience to 
the faith among all nations for his name. Rom. 
i. 5. Thus we learn the nature and extent of 
the work comprehended in the commission. It 
is the work of evangelization, from its most in- 
cipient and outward form, to the most advanced 
stage of internal and spiritual development in 
the knowledge and love of God. 

In making disciples of all nations, according 
to the express provisions of the commission, 



Making Disciples. 139 

they were to baptize them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
and to teach them to observe all things which 
Christ had commanded. The baptism enjoined 
is water baptism — a baptism to be performed by 
human hands — something to be done by the 
'ministers of the gospel in fulfilment of their 
commission. And this is the only place in which 
water baptism is formally instituted as a Chris- 
tian ordinance. And hence we derive our au- 
thority for its practice. " Go ye, therefore, and 
disciple all nations, baptizing them." 

There were other baptisms with water before 
this to which our attention is invited in the 
Scriptures, and which are, therefore, designed 
for our instruction and admonition upon this 
subject. There was the baptism of the Israelitish 
nation mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor. x. 1-2. He 
says: "I would not that ye should be ignorant 
how that all our fathers were under the cloud, 
and all passed through the sea; and were all bap- 
tized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." 
The cloud was composed of vapor or particles 
of water which the Lord u spread over them for 
a covering;" and the water of the sea stood on 
heaps, right and left, as they passed through the 
sea on foot, dry shod; and they were baptized in 
the cloud and in the sea. In Psalm lxxvii., cele- 
brating the passing of the Eed Sea, it is said : ' 'The 
waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; 
they were afraid; the depths also were troubled. 
The clouds poured out ivater: the skies sent out 
a sound: thine arrows also went abroad." And 



140 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

as the people were all under the cloud, they were 
baptized with the falling rain, poured upon them 
during this thunder shower. G-od himself, who 
spread the cloud as a covering over them, thus 
baptized them. Paul does not say that it was 
like baptism, or that it in some way resembled 
a baptism: but that they were all baptized in the 
cloud and in the sea, while they were under the 
cloud and passing through the sea. And Paul 
had also read how on the occasion "the clouds 
poured out water " upon them. This baptism 
was their separation from Egypt by a miraculous, 
Divine interposition, and their consecration to 
Moses as their appointed leader and commander, 
to be his disciples, to be taught and trained by 
him in the wilderness, and prepared for the pos- 
session of the promised land. All the tribes of 
Israel were there, by their families, from the 
hoary headed man to the infant of days; the 
mothers with their babes were there, and a 
mixed multitude of people. And all were bap- 
tized. No one was omitted. The water from 
the cloud fell as freely upon the infant, as upon 
the adult, and made disciples of them all, and 
brought them all alike under the mediatorial 
ministrations of Moses, the man of God. Thus, 
when G-od brought the people out of Egypt, 
Judah was his sanctuary and Israel was his 
dominion." Thus, in their national separation 
they were constituted a church in the wilderness, 
and at Sinai God entered into a special covenant 
with them to make them a peculiar treasure unto 
himself above all people, and a kingdom of 



Making Disciples. 141 

priests, and a holy nation, on condition of their 
obedience. This national baptism was not to 
bring them into the Abrahamic covenant, for 
they already were in it. It was to bring them 
into the Sinaic covenant, of which Moses was the 
Mediator; for the law was given by Moses; and 
hence Paul says they were baptized unto Moses. 
This baptism was unique, and made them and 
their children Moses' disciples for the whole term 
of their national trial under the Sinaic covenant. 
None of their children, subsequently born, were 
baptized; but all proselytes, subsequently made 
from the heathen, with their children, were 
added to them by baptism. And it is, I think, 
probable that the baptism of proselytes had its 
origin in the national baptism of Israel. There 
is no other event mentioned in Jewish history 
which would account for the introduction of this 
custom. The idea of cleansing or purifying was 
attached to this baptism. And as the Israelites 
were baptismally cleansed from the pollutions 
of Egypt in the cloud and in the sea; so prose- 
lytes were baptismally cleansed from the pollu- 
tions of the heathen by the water of separation. 
This baptism was their separation from their 
previous unholy associations, and their initiation 
into a new relation of holiness unto the Lord. 
And hence also the children born to these pros- 
lytes after their reception into the Israelish 
Church, were regarded as holy, being on equality 
with born Israelites, members by birth, and, there- 
fore, not to be baptized. They were born disci- 
ples to Moses, and where trained from their 



142 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

birth in the rites and ceremonies of the Sinaic 
covenant. 

There were also among the Jews baptisms of 
purification of which Paul speaks in Heb. ix 9- 
14, where he says that in the ancient tabernacle 
" were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could 
not make him that did the service perfect, as 
pertaining to the conscience; which stood only 
in meats and drinks, and divers baptisms (Greek 
fiaTZztofJLOcz,) purifyings of the flesh, imposed 
on them until the time of reformation." These 
divers or different baptisms were, doubtless, the 
ceremonial purifications required by the law, 
which he further contrasts with the sacrificial 
offering of Christ: "For if the blood of bulls, 
and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprink- 
ling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of 
the flesh; how much more shall the blood of 
Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered 
himself without spot to God, purge your con- 
science from dead works to serve the living 
God?" The blood of bulls, and goats, and 
the " divers baptisms " of ceremonial purification 
reached not the conscience; they only "sanctified 
to the purifying of the flesh." It required the 
all-atoning sacrifice of Christ, and the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit, in applying the "blood of 
sprinkling " to the conscience of the truly peni- 
tent to purge it from dead works to serve the 
living God. Among the ceremonial purifications 
alluded to, and by Paul called "diyers bap- 
tisms," are those of the water of separation men- 
tioned Num. xix. 1-22; as it is evident from his 



Making Disciples. 143 

reference to the "ashes of a heifer." By that 
ordinance, a red heifer, without spot or blemish, 
upon which never came a yoke, was slain by a 
suitable person, in the presence of the priest, 
who took the blood and sprinkled it with his 
finger before the tabernacle seven times. And 
then the heifer was burnt. And the priest cast 
cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet into the 
midst of the burning of the heifer. Afterwards 
the ashes were gathered and laid up in a clean 
place without the camp. And if any one touched 
the dead body of a man, or a human bone, or a 
grave, or was in a tent where any one had died, 
he was accounted unclean. And for the cleans- 
ing of an unclean person, they took of the ashes 
of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and 
put thereto running water in a vessel, and a 
clean person took hyssop and dipped it in the 
water thus prepared, and sprinkled with it the 
tent and all the vessels in the tent, and all the 
persons in the tent where the man had died, and 
him that had touched a bone, or one slain, or 
one dead, or a grave. This was done on the 
third day and on the seventh day; after which 
the unclean person purified himself, washing his 
clothes and bathing himself in water, and was 
accounted clean at even. When a man died in 
a tent, his family, wife and children, and all who 
were in the tent, were rendered unclean; and all, 
infants as well as adults, had to be cleansed by 
sprinkling them with the water of separation. 

In Mark vii. 1-8, mention is made of some 
baptisms among the Jews of that day, which 



144: The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

were based on human tradition alone. Certain 
Scribes and Pharisees, who were of Jerusalem, 
found fault with the disciples of Jesus because 
they ate bread with unwashed hands. u For the 
Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash 
their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of 
the elders. And when they come from the mar- 
ket except they wash {ft am co cow at. baptize,) 
they eat not. And many other things there be, 
which they have received to hold, as the wash- 
ing {^arcTca[ioD^ baptism,) of cups and pots, 
and brazen vessels, and of tables." And Jesus, 
in replying to them, charged them with setting 
aside the commandments of God, and holding 
the traditions of men, as the washing (panzco- 
fiouz^ baptism,) of pots and cups, and similar 
things. These baptisms were ceremonial purifi- 
cations, and water was kept in readiness for 
their performance, as we learn from John ii. 6. 
"And there were set there six water pots of 
stone, after the manner of the purifying of the 
Jews, containing two or three firkins a piece," 
a firkin being about three quarts. From this it 
is evident that it was the custom to keep water 
in vessels in the rooms where they dined for 
these baptismal purifications, and hence the 
Pharisees saw that the disciples omitted the 
washing of their hands. And on another occa- 
sion, when Jesus was invited by a certain Phari- 
see to dine with him, he went and sat down 
to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he 
marveled that he had not first washed (efianzca- 
0j^ baptized,) before dinner. Luke xi. 37 38. 



Making Disciples. 145 

This baptism was the washing of the hands, 
sometimes performed by dipping the hands in 
water, but generally by having water poured on 
the hands. The cups, and pots, and brazen ves- 
sels may have been purified by dipping them in 
water, but not the tables or couches. They 
could not have been immersed, and were, doubt- 
less, purified by being sprinkled with water, as 
was done in the purification of the persons and 
things which had been defiled by contact with 
the dead; and which is among the divers bap- 
tisms mentioned by Paul. 

So far, then, we find the Greek word ftanTt^a) 
is, first, used to designate the manner in 
which God separated the children of Israel from 
the polluting associations of Egypt to be a pecu- 
liar people unto himself, and brought them into 
Church relation to Moses, his servant, the media- 
tor of the national covenant which he then made 
with them. He made a way for them through 
the sea, and spread over them his cloud for 
a covering, and poured his rain upon them; 
and this, Paul, by the Spirit, calls a baptism. 
They were baptized unto Moses in the cloud 
and in the sea. It was a national baptism, 
divinely administered, in which the whole house 
of Israel, parents and children, were the subjects, 
water was the element, and pouring was the 
mode. Second, It is used to designate the cere- 
monial purifications whereby the church life of 
the Israelite was to be perpetuated under the 
Sinaic national covenant; for the soul who ne- 
glected or refused to attend to these purifications 
10 



146 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

was cut off from the congregation of Israel. 
These purifications Paul by inspiration of God, 
calls "divers baptisms," wherein " the blood 
of bulls, and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, 
sprinkled on the unclean, sanctified them to 
the purifying of the flesh." Here, again, we 
have for the subjects of these purifications, in 
some instances, individuals; in others, whole 
families, and even the whole congregation of 
Israel, including adults and children. The 
elements were either the blood of animals slain 
in sacrifice, or water mixed with the ashes of a 
heifer, which had been made a burnt offering for 
sin; and the mode was by sprinkling. The 
purifications are called baptisms, and are typical 
of the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which the 
blood of Christ or his sacrificial offering cleanses 
us from all sin, and by which we also put on 
Christ, and our Church life under the new cove- 
nant is sustained and perpetuated. 



Making Disciples. 147 



CHAPTER II. 

JOHN'S BAPTISM. 



The next baptism to be noticed is that of 
John, the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth, and 
the Elias of the Israelitish national covenant. 
As the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
straight, he preceded the Messiah, and fulfilled 
an important mission in awakening the national 
conscience and preparing the people for the re- 
ception of the coming one. The burden of his 
preaching was, Eepent ye; for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand; and there went out to him all 
the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and 
were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, 
confessing their sins. 

John's baptism differed from the proselytical 
baptism with which the Jews were familiar, in 
this, that the Jews baptized Gentiles only, to 
admit them into the congregation of Israel; but 
John baptized the Jews themselves and such as 
had been previously proselyted. John's mission 
was not to make proselytes to Judaism, but to 
prepare the Jews for the coming of the Messiah, 
and to bear a part in the manifestation of the 



148 The Doctrine of Baptisms, 

Messiah to Israel. "With respect to them it was 
the baptism of repentance for the remission of 
sins. "With respect to him it was the baptism 
of consecration to the priesthood. The king- 
dom of heaven was promised to the Israel- 
ites by their national covenant on condition 
of their obedience; for God said, "Now, 
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and 
keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar 
treasure unto me above all people: for all the 
earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a king- 
dom of priests and a holy nation." Ex. xix. 
5, 6. And he gave them laws and ordinances 
which if a man do, he should even live by them: 
that is, he should secure eternal life and everlast- 
ing glory in natural flesh in the promised king- 
dom of the Messiah. And the object was to 
prove, under a covenant of works, the impracti- 
cability of preparing a nation in natural flesh, 
to be kings and priests in that kingdom; for in 
all their generations they failed to keep the cove- 
nant or to obey his voice, as it is written, 
" There is none righteous, no, not one: there is 
none that understandeth, there is none that 
seeketh after God. They have all gone out of 
the way, they are together become unprofitable; 
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. " The 
time of their national trial under that covenant 
was about to terminate. It only extended to the 
manifestation of the Messiah in the flesh; and 
during that manifestation they had the oppor- 
tunity of receiving him and of becoming a king- 
dom of priests; or they would, by rejecting him, 



Making Disciples. 149 

fill up the measure of their national iniquities, 
and incur the abrogation of their national cove- 
nant. 

John's baptism was reformatory in design. 
He inculcated the necessity of repentance and 
amendment of life, as indispensable to the at- 
tainment of the promised glory and blessedness 
of the covenant. And when he saw many of 
the Scribes and Pharisees, who trusted in their 
natural relation to Abraham, come to his bap- 
tism, he said, " O generation of vipers, who hath 
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 
Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentence; 
and think not to say within yourselves, We 
have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, 
That G-od is able of these stones to raise up 
children unto Abraham." His mission as the 
prophet of the Highest, was u to go before the 
face of the Lord to prepare his way; to give the 
knowledge of salvation unto his people by the 
remission of their sins." It was not to add to 
the Church, but to reform the Church. He was 
a burning and a shining light, and they were 
willing for a season to walk in his light. They 
were pleased with the idea that the kingdom 
was at hand, and they were willing to be bap- 
tized in preparation for it. But they were 
morally unfit; and when called to repentance, 
they rejected the counsel of God against them- 
selves. And his exhortations fell upon dull ears 
and carnal hearts. "He came to them in the 
way of righteousness, and they believed him not; 
but the publicans and harlots believed him; and 



150 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

they, when they had seen it, repented not after- 
wards that they might believe him." Hence, 
though the ministry of John appeared to be a suc- 
cess at first on account of the multitudes who 
crowded to his baptism, it failed to effect the na- 
tional purification — their character was not 
changed — pride and unbelief still held the citadel 
of the national heart, and the ministry and 
baptism of John ended with his being cast into 
prison. 

Prior to this, however, Jesus, in fulfilment of 
the ordinance of priestly consecration, had been 
baptized of him. This ordinance required that 
the person to be consecrated should first be 
washed with water, and then anointed with oil. 
The washing of Aaron and his sons was done in 
the presence of the whole congregation of Israel, 
at the door of the tabernacle in the wilderness. 
The water for this purpose was contained in a 
laver of brass; made for them a to wash their 
hands and feet thereat. " It was not of sufficient 
capacity for them to be immersed therein. And 
the washing or baptism, being a ceremonial 
purification, could be as significantly performed 
by pouring or sprinkling; as Jesus said to Peter, 
"He that is washed needeth not save to wash 
his feet, but is clean every whit." So it was 
only necessary to pour or sprinkle water upon 
them, and they were ceremonially clean. This 
does not determine the manner in which John 
baptized, though it indicates that pouring or 
sprinkling were eligible modes. And when we 
consider the inconvenience of immersing such 



Making Disciples. 151 

vast numbers as resorted to him, that they were 
not provided with immersion robes, and if im- 
mersed, it must have been in their ordinary- 
wearing apparel, or naked; and that to have im- 
mersed them John must have been in the water 
all the time, it is most probable that John bap- 
tized by sprinkling or pouring. Nothing can be 
urged against this view from the words "m* 1 
and " out of," as the same Greek particles are 
rendered by " at," " with " and " from." So in 
Matt. iii. 6, ev simply states that the people 
" were all baptized at the Jordan," and in verse 
11, that they were baptized "with water." 
Hence it amounts to this, and no more, that 
John baptized them with water, at the Jordan. 
And the proper translation of ojzo is "from," 
and verse 16 states that Jesus being baptized, 
1 ' went up strait way from the water. ' ' It cannot 
be shown that he was certainly in the water, 
much less put under it. Dr. Carson, regarding 
the improbability of John's being in the water 
all the time in immersing so many people, says, 
" I think there is no reason to believe that John the 
Baptist usually went into the water in baptizing," 
and concludes, u that John chose someplace on the 
edge of the Jordan that admitted the immersion of 
the persons baptized, while the baptizer remaind 
on the margin;" p. 131, in which he virtually 
yields the point he contends for: for how can 
any one immerse another in a river or other 
water without going into the water to do it? 
The thing is impossible. If John baptized the 
people without going into the water himself he 



152 u The Doctrine of Baptisms, 

did not immerse them: if he baptized them 
while he stood on the margin of the stream, it 
must have been by sprinkling or pouring. 

But it is said that John, at one time, was bap- 
tizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was 
much water there, John iii. 23, which is supposed 
to afford proof that his baptism was performed 
by immersion; and the phraseology seems to 
imply as much. But the selection of Enon 
could not have been to obtain water enough for 
immersing. The Jordan was, doubtless, suffi- 
cient for that purpose. Some other reason must 
have determined his removal from the river to 
Enon. The exact situation of Enon is unknown. 
Jerome, quoting Eusebius, says, " that it was 
eight miles south from Scythopolis, between 
Salim and the Jordan;" but no traveler in 
modern times has ever been able to find it, or the 
much water that marked its site. Instead of 
much water the Greek words, ooara noXhi 
signify many waters; and "Sandys, according 
to Hamilton says, ' that at Enon are little springs 
gushing out whose waters are soon absorbed by 
the sands.' " This is most likely, for even the 
springs themselves have been choked and covered 
up by the sands, leaving nothing to indicate that 
they ever existed. In the days of John the Bap- 
tist those springs afforded sufficient water to 
render it a desirable place for his ministry, 
which was attended by a large concourse of 
people who needed water for drinking and other 
purposes. Wherever large numbers of people 
congregate and remain for a time, the supply of 



Making Disciples. 153 

water for drinking is very important. It is rea- 
sonable to infer that it was on this account John 
selected Enon for his ministry: otherwise he 
would have remained at the Jordan, which af- 
forded more water for immersing. But Enon 
afforded enough for sprinkling or pouring, and 
sufficient for the natural wants of the people. 

The idea of purification was also attached to 
John's baptism; for it is said that a question 
arose between some of John's disciples and the 
Jews about purifying. John baptized Jews who, 
being in covenant with God, were regarded as 
ceremonially clean; and yet this seemed to imply 
that they were unclean. And the question, 
doubtless, related to the nature of their unclean- 
ness. And from John's preaching we learn that 
it was moral, not ceremonial. Hence he exhorted 
them to repentance for the remission of sins. 
In ceremonial uncleanness the u divers bap- 
tisms " met the requirements of the law, and 
sanctified the unclean person to the purifying of 
the flesh. But moral uncleanness defiled the 
conscience, which the baptism of water could 
not reach; and which could only be purged away 
by repentance towards Grod and faith in the 
coming one. And this John taught in his 
preaching, on which account his baptism is 
called the baptism of repentance for the remis- 
sion of sins. The remission of sins was conse- 
quent upon repentance, and not upon baptism. 
The people, by confessing their sins, professed to 
be penitent, and John baptized them; but 
whether their sins were forgiven depended on 



154 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

the reality of their repentance, and not on their 
baptism. 

It was while John was baptizing at Enon, that 
Jesus, having first attended the Passover at 
Jerusalem, went with his disciples, then five in 
number, into the land of Judea, probably the 
hill country to the south, and there baptized. 
This was not a separate and distinct baptism 
from John's, but the same, the baptism of repent- 
ance for the remission of sins, and preparatory 
to his manifestation to Israel as the Messiah. 
It lasted but a short time; for the Pharisees who 
raised the question about purifying, went to John 
and tried to excite his envy on account of the 
greater numbers who attended the ministry of 
Jesus, and were baptized by his disciples. And 
when Jesus knew of it, though they failed in 
their object (as John was only pleased to hear it, 
and bore additional testimony to the Divine 
origin and Messiahship of Jesus, ) he immediately 
terminated his ministry of baptizing and departed 
for Galilee. A few days afterwards, John was 
cast into prison, and his ministry and baptism 
ceased: and also the ministry of Jesus as John's 
coadjutor, for Jesus never baptized after that 
event.* 

* This is further evident from the fact that as soon as 
John was cast into prison, Jesus left Samaria and went 
into Galilee, dismissed the disciples who had heen with 
him during that period of his ministry, and returned 
to Nazareth where he had been brought up. After this, 
his ministry as the Messiah began by his announce- 
ment of himself as such in the synagogue on the next 
Sabbath, and by the subsequent call of twelve disciples, 
including those he had dismissed, to a new ministry. 
It is also evident from the fact that no reference is 



Making Disciples. 155 

We learn from these facts that John's baptism 
was not designed for legal purification or for 
proselytism; but was reformatory. He called 
the people to repent of their sins, and believe on 
the coming Messiah; and on their professing to 
do so, he baptized them unto repentance, obliga- 
ting them to that amendment of life neeessary 
to fit them for a participation in the kingdom of 
God, And the subjects of his baptism were the 
Jews of "all the land of Judea and they of Je- 
rusalem " and "all round about Jordan." There 
can be no doubt that the Jewish parents took 
their children with them to John's baptism. 
They were in the habit of taking them to the 
Passover and other religious occasions; and it 
is unwarrantable to suppose that in this case 
they departed from their national custom, or 
that their children were not baptized along with 
themselves. Their children were always identi- 
fied with themselves in religious matters. 

But notwithstanding the multitudes baptized 
by John, the national heart remained unchanged. 

subsequently made to his baptizing in Judea during 
that period, though he then u made and baptized more 
disciples than John." It is never spoken of as his bap- 
tism. It is never alluded to unless it is included in 
John's bapfism. And this is unaccountable if it were 
a distinct and separate baptism; but altogether natural 
if he acted as John's coadjutor. Again, the words of 
Jesus (Acts i. 5.) "John truly baptized with water, 
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many 
days hence," intimate that all the water baptisms per- 
formed during that period belonged to John's baptism; 
otherwise Jesus might have said, I truly have hereto- 
fore baptized with water, but in a few days hence ye 
shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They also 
intimate that up to that period Christian baptism had 
not been instituted, and the disciples had only been 
"baptized with the baptism of John. 



156 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

The generation of vipers remained vipers still. 
Their unbelief rendered John's ministry a failure 
so far as their preparation for the Messiah's 
manifestation was concerned; though in itself it 
was a well filled course of faithful labor. The 
ministry of Jesus as the Messiah began imme- 
diately after John's imprisonment, and con- 
tinued until his own crucifixion. It was the 
time of Israel's visitation; but they knew it not; 
and rejecting him, they forfeited the promised 
kingdom, and their national covenant was abro- 
gated. And the kingdom of God was taken 
from them to be given to a nation bringing forth 
its fruits. This nation is the true Church, com- 
posed of all believers in Christ, Jews and Gen- 
tiles, and will be completed at the end of this 
age. In all ages God has had a professing 
Church out of which the election has generally 
been made. Concerning the Israelitish Church, 
Paul says, that though the number of Israel be 
as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant shall be 
saved. The commission of Christ to his apostles 
to disciple all nations authorized the organiza- 
tion of professing Christian Churches, and out 
of these also, a remnant only shall be saved; for 
Jesus said " Not every one that saith unto me 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of 
heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father 
who is in heaven. " Hence making them disci- 
ples and adding them to the professing Church 
does not save them. The baptism of the Israeli- 
tish nation unto Moses, and their subsequent 
instruction and discipline did not save them; 



Making Disciples. 157 

" for with many of them God was not well 
pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilder- 
ness;" and these things "are written for our 
admonition;" " wherefore, let him that thinketh 
he stand eth take heed lest he fall. " Proselytical 
baptism made the subjects of it members of 
Israel, but it did not save them. The divers bap- 
tisms of ceremonial purification, made the 
Israelites clean, as far as related to the purifying 
of the flesh; but did not reach the conscience, 
and could not save them. The baptism of John 
obligated those who received it to repent and 
prepare for the coming of the Messiah, but it 
did not save them; for thousands of them re- 
jected the Messiah when he came. We learn, 
then, from these examples, that water baptism, 
however administered, never was, is not now, 
and never can be a saving ordinance. Baptized 
persons now, as Paul tells us. may fall after the 
same example of unbelief so prevalent in former 
dispensations, and under divers administrations. 
Why, if water baptism be not a saving ordi- 
nance, did Christ institute it and command 
his apostles to baptize all nations? Simply, ac- 
cording to the terms of the commission, as an 
initiatory ordinance in making disciples and 
adding them to the professing churches. Some 
such rite was suitable and proper. It indicated 
separation from the heathen world and consecra- 
tion to God through the mediation of Christ and 
by the operation of the Spirit. Yet it only made 
them disciples outwardly; but did not make 
them partakers of the Divine nature. It added 



158 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

them to the professing churches, but did not 
baptize them into Christ. It gave them his name, 
but not his Spirit. It was their calling, but not 
their election. 

What advantage, then, is there in water bap- 
tism? or what profit in discipleship? Much, 
every way; chiefly because it brings them under 
the teachings of the word and into association 
with Christ's people. The ministry of the word 
is G-od's means of salvation, for when the world 
by wisdom knew not Grod, it pleased Grod through 
the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
believe: and outward discipleship throws around 
us restraints from evil and influences for good 
which may lead to the saving of the souh 

The commission extends to "all nations," 
embracing both Jews and Gentiles; for though 
the Israelitish national covenant, which, as long 
as it lasted, made them the exclusive objects of 
promised blessings, was abrogated by the death 
of Christ, the Jew was not thereby excluded 
from the benefits of the new covenant in Christ 
Jesus; the effect was simply the admission of the 
Gentile without excluding the Jew; and hence 
Jesus said to his apostles after his resurrection, 
and in relation to his sacrificial death for sin, 
" Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ 
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day; 
and that repentance and remission of sins, 
should be preached in his name, among all na- 
tions, beginning at Jerusalem.'* u Luke xxiv. 
46, 47. The gospel was to be first preached to 
the Jews, and on their unbelieving rejection of 



Making Disciples. 159 

it, then to the Gentiles; as Paul and Barnabas 
said to the Jews at Antioch, Acts xiii. 46, 47: 
"It was necessary that the word of God should 
first be spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from 
you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlast- 
ing life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath 
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee 
for a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldst 
be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. ' ' 
And Jesus, knowing that the Jews would despise 
and reject his gospel, included the Gentiles in 
the commission, 4 ' Go ye, therefore, and disciple 
all nations," for out of them he is taking a 
people for his name in place of the unbelieving 
Jews. 

Now when we consider that the whole Israel- 
itish nation, parents and children, and a mixed 
multitude of people were made disciples unto 
Moses by baptism in the cloud and in the sea; 
and that in proselytical baptism, whole families, 
including infants, were received from the heathen 
into the Jewish Church; and that all the land of 
Judea and they of Jerusalem went to John's 
baptism, and were baptized of him; we are shut 
up to the conclusion that the commission to dis- 
ciple all nations embraces the children as well as 
the parents. Without a special clause, exclud- 
ing children, how could the apostles understand it 
otherwise? They knew that infants had all along 
been embraced in the Abrahamic covenant; and 
though incapable of believing at the time, re- 
ceived the seal of that faith in which they were 
to be instructed; and that God had testified con- 



160 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

cerning Abraham, "For I know him, that he 
will command his children and his household 
after him, and they shall keep the way of the 
Lord to do justice and judgment; that the Lord 
may bring upon Abraham that which he hath 
spoken of him." Gen. xviii. 19. And that 
under the Israelitish national covenant God re- 
quired that parents should diligently teach their 
children the laws and ordinances of that economy, 
saying, " And ye shall teach them your children, 
speaking of them when thou sittest in thine 
house, and when thou walkest by the way, when 
thou liest down, and when thou riseth up. And 
thou shalt write them upon the door posts of 
thine house, and upon thy gates; that your days 
may be multiplied, and the days of your children, 
in the land which the Lord sware unto your 
fathers to give them, as the days of heaven 
upon earth." Deut. xi. 19-21. They knew that 
the children of proselytes, not old enough to 
refuse, were always baptized along with their 
parents when received into the Israelitish church; 
and were instructed and taught the facts and 
principles of the Jewish religion. And how 
could the Abrahamic covenant be regarded by 
them as excluding children from the ordinance 
of discipleship and its teachings, simply because 
it was now extended to all nations? The cove- 
nant is unchanged in any of its essential ele- 
ments. Some of its forms and ceremonies are 
changed. Circumcision is done away; but the 
principle on which infants were circumcised 
remains. The principle upon which children pos- 



Making Disciples. 161 

sess and enjoy the estate and privileges of their 
parents, and upon which children have been em- 
braced in all the covenants which God has made 
with mankind was not done away. On this prin- 
ciple the male infants of proselytes were circum- 
cised; and all, both male and female, were bap- 
tized and received along with their parents into 
the Israelitish Church. The baptism of disciple- 
ship in the Christian Churches differs not from the 
baptism of proselytes in the Israelitish Church, 
except in relation to the difference of dispensa- 
tion. The Israelites were Christ's professing 
church under the Mosaic dispensation. The called 
by the gospel out of all nations are Christ's pro- 
fessing churches under the Christian dispensation, 
tion. The baptism of proselytes added them to the 
Israelitish Church; and the baptism of disciples 
adds them to the Christian Churches. In both 
cases the object is the same; separating them from 
the heathen and adding them to the professing 
people of God. There is this difference that in 
this dispensation the Jewish nation is put upon 
the same standing with all others in relation to 
the Christian Churches. By proselytical baptism, 
infants were received along with their parents 
into the Israelitish Church: why should they 
not now be received into the Christian Church 
by the baptism of discipleship, seeing that the 
Abrahamic covenant is the foundation of both? 

11 



162 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN. 



In the gospel it is recorded that "there were 
brought unto Jesus little children — infants — 
that he should put his hands on them and pray: 
and the disciples rebuked those that brought 
them. But when Jesus saw it he was much dis- 
pleased, and called them unto him, and said: 
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven. Yerily, I say unto you, Whosoever 
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
child, shall in no wise enter therein. And he 
took them up in his arms, put his hands upon 
them, and blessed them." Matt. xix. 13-15, 
Mark x. 13-16, Luke xviii. 15-17. This is re- 
corded for our learning, and appears to have an 
important bearing upon the subject in hand. By 
the kingdom of heaven I do not understand the 
Church, but the kingdom promised to Israel by 
their national covenant on condition of their 
obedience — the kingdom taken from them on 
account of their disobedience — and to be given 
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof — the 
kingdom promised to the saints who will cousti- 



Making Disciples. 163 

tute that nation — the kingdom which will be set 
up at the second coming of Christ in power and 
great glory. But this kingdom has its aspects 
towards all times and dispensations from the day 
that God gave to Adam dominion over the earth, 
until all things shall be subdued to Christ the 
second Adam. This kingdom has its aspect 
towards this dispensation, in which, by the 
gospel, the kingdom is preached to all nations, 
and God is taking out of the Gentiles a people 
for his name. It is compared to a net cast into 
the sea which enclosed all kinds of fish; so it 
encloses all kinds of persons. This is being 
done from the beginning of the dispensation to 
its close. This is being done by the ministerial 
commission to disciple all nations, by baptizing 
them and teaching them. All who are bap- 
tized according to the commission are enclosed 
in that net, and in that sense are " of the king- 
dom of heaven." And when Jesus received 
the little children brought to him, and said, 
" Of such is the kingdom of heaven," he indi- 
cated that they were to be brought into this 
relation in the Christian dispensation by the 
ordinance of discipleship. The little children 
brought to him belonged to the Israelitish 
Church, at that time the only professing Church 
of God, and hence they were " of the kingdom 
of heaven "in that sense. In the same sense 
all Israel were called " children of the kingdom. " 
The phrase, " Of such is the kingdom of 
heaven," does not refer to, or necessarily imply, 
their future salvation. It simply has respect to 



164 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

their present relation to the kingdom as members 
of Christ's professing Church. Christ said of 
some whom he calls "children of the kingdom," 
that they " shall be cast out into outer darkness; 
there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 
Matt. viii. 12. Jesus did not say, ' Suffer them t o 
come unto me, for they shall be heirs of the king- 
dom of heaven, as some construe it to signify; 
but, of such is the kingdom of heaven;" that is, 
they are now the "children of the kingdom" 
by membership in the professing Church. And 
these words of Jesus have evidently a prospect- 
ive application to little children under the gos- 
pel dispensation who are to be permitted to 
come unto him in the ordinance of discipleship 
that they may be " of the kingdom of heaven." 
That this is the sense, is obvious from the fact 
that their simplicity, humility and docility so 
eminently qualify them for discipleship that 
Jesus sets them forth as examples for all who 
would enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is 
easier to make disciples of little children whose 
minds are unoccupied with error, and whose 
consciences are undented by crime, than of adults 
whose understandings are clouded with falsities, 
and who have contracted habits of wickedness. 
A little child has no false theories to unlearn; 
no prejudices against the truth to overcome; no 
pride of caste to mortify; no evil associations to 
renounce: but receives the kingdom of heaven 
with a simple, humble and teachable spirit. 
Adults, on the contrary, who have been educated 
in falsehood, pride and selfishness, must be con- 



Making Disciples. 165 

verted and become like little children to receive 
the kingdom of heaven and enter into it. A 
little child has those traits of mind essential to 
discipleship, and there can be no true disciple- 
ship without them. A person may become 
professedly a disciple without them, but such 
profession is vain. 

Jesus does not say that little children are 
qualified for the kingdom of heaven, and there- 
fore its heirs: this would be to deny all necessity 
for the ministry of the word, the baptism of the 
Spirit or the discipline of trial and affliction. 
His language has no reference to the future con- 
dition of little children who die in infancy. 
Such a construction of his words has given rise 
to false theories. Thus Mr. Carson says, "In- 
fants are saved without the gospel:" and again, 
"Infants who enter the kingdom of heaven 
must be regenerated, but not by the gospel." 
The same sentiment seems to be generally 
adopted by all who construe the phrase, u Of 
such is the kingdom of heaven," to have refer- 
ence to the condition of such as die in infancy. 
But Jesus says nothing about dead infants; his 
language relates altogether to living infants. 
And so far from teaching that " the gospel has 
nothing to do with infants," as Mr. Carson 
asserts, he teaches that they are the fittest sub- 
jects among mankind for its divine and saving 
influences, and therefore to be permitted to be 
brought to him, and made his disciples. Little 
children possess those traits of disposition 
which fit them for discipleship. Even Mr. Car- 



166 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

son acknowledges that "It is the temper of 
children to which our Lord gives his approbation, 
and the things referred to are found in all chil- 
dren." Yes; and, therefore, all children are in 
a state fit for discipleship; but all adults are not: 
adults need to be converted and become in tem- 
per and disposition like little children, or they are 
unfit for discipleship. 

It must be borne in mind, too, that the sim- 
plicity, humility and docility of little children 
render them as susceptible of evil as of good. 
They may be trained in error and vice with as 
much facility as in truth and virtue. Their 
minds will take in the fables of pagan idolatry 
as readily as the verities of Christian theology. 
Hence the importance of making them disciples 
at once, and of training them up in the nurture 
and admonition of the Lord. 

But it is not said that these children were 
baptized. True; for during his ministry, as the 
Messiah Jesus did not baptize. Before John was 
imprisoned he baptized, by his disciples in the 
land of Judea as John's coadjutor; but after 
John's imprisonment, he baptized no more. His 
ministry as the Messiah related to his manifes- 
tation to Israel, and began at Nazareth, after 
John was put in prison, and ended at Jerusalem 
with his crucifixion. And during this period 
there was no baptism of discipleship. John's 
baptism was not the introduction of a new dis- 
pensation, but the termination of the old. It 
was not to add disciples to the Church, but td 
reform the Church. All whom John baptized 



Making Disciples. 167 

were already members of the Church, which in- 
cluded, by the national covenant, the whole 
house of Israel, from the least to the greatest. 
These little children, then, were members of the 
professing Church, and might have been baptized 
by John, and the words of Jesus recognized this 
relation, and their corresponding right to the 
kingdom of heaven according to the terms of the 
national covenant then in force. But the teach- 
ings of Jesus had also a prospective bearing 
upon the gospel dispensation, which, as already 
shown, is the extension of the Abrahamic cove- 
nant to all nations, of whom disciples were to be 
made, and indicated that little children were to 
be included in the commission. 

Infant membership in the Israelitish Church 
was not a merely nominal thing, but an ordi- 
nance of God, who says, c £ All souls are mine, 
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the 
son is mine." And Samuel, and David, and 
Josiah are examples of early piety which may 
have been often reproduced under the religious 
training of that economy. And Solomon says, 
" Train up a child in the way he should go, and 
when he is old he will not depart from it " — a 
divine reason for making disciples of children, 
showing that early religious training is usually, 
if not always successful. And when Jesus drove 
the buyers and sellers out of the temple, and did 
many wonderful works attesting his Messiah- 
ship, it was the children who extolled him, 
singing, "Hosannah to the Son of David." 
And that these were very young children, is 



168 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

evident from the answer of Jesus to the objection 
of the Scribes and Priests: "Have ye not read, 
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou 
hast perfected praise?" 

At the Pentecost the number of Christ's fol- 
lowers united together in fellowship, and consti- 
tuting the nucleus of a Christian Church, was 
about one hundred and twenty, and these were 
all with one accord in one place. And suddenly 
they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and 
endowed with the gift of tongues. And when 
the multitude came together, Peter preached 
Jesus as the Messiah unto them. Then they 
inquired, " What shall we do?" And he replied, 
' ' Eepent and be baptized every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit; for the promise is to you and to your 
children, and to all that are afar off, even as 
many as the Lord our God shall call." It is 
evident from this that Peter understood the 
commission to disciple all nations, as embracing 
the children along with the parents, according to 
the Abrahamic covenant; and such must also 
have been the understanding of the people, who 
had been accustomed to this order of things 
under the Mosaic dispensation. " To you and 
to your children " had characterized all God's 
dealings with them up to that hour, and the 
promise of the Spirit, under the gospel dispensa- 
tion, was still couched in the same terms. And 
these terms also apply to " all that are afar off," 
that is to the Gentiles. And so "to you and to 



Making Disciples. 169 

your children " is a law of the Abrahamic cove- 
nant in its extension to all nations. "I will 
pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing 
upon thine offspring," meets every parent who 
turns from lying vanities to serve the living G-od, 
and warrants him as he enters the Church, to 
bring his children with him. 

In perfect accordance with this law is the 
baptism of households mentioned in the Acts 
and Epistles . The family is a Divine institution , 
and the earliest form of a church; in which the 
husband and father was the priest or minister, 
and conducted the religious exercises. Under 
the Abrahamic covenant, his family and the 
families of Isaac and Jacob successively consti- 
tuted the Church of God; and when the Israel- 
itish Church was formed in the wilderness it 
included, but did not supersede the family insti- 
tution. The family remained an ecclesia in 
ecclesia — a church in a church. All Israel, 
when settled in Canaan, met three times a year 
before the Lord in his sanctuary; but all the rest 
of the time their religious services were offered 
at family altars. Hence the obligations to 
maintain family worship still remain. Hence 
also the custom of receiving whole families into 
the Israelitish Church by baptism, and which we 
find was continued in the Christian Church, and 
has an important bearing upon this question. 
And the promise " In thee and in thy seed shall 
all the families of the earth be blessed," indicates 
the preservation of the family institution under 
all phases of the manifestation of the covenant. 



170 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

In the baptism of households, we have, first, 
the case of Lydia, a native of Thyatira, but a 
resident of Philippi, where she carried on the 
business of selling purple. She was a worshiper 
of God, and frequented the place of prayer, 
where she heard Paul preach the gospel of Christ, 
and the Lord opened her heart to attend to the 
things she heard; and she was baptized and her 
household with her. If she were a proselyte 
from the Gentiles, as is generally supposed, then 
she and her family had been previously received 
into the Israelitish Church by baptism. And 
now, on embracing Christianity, she and her 
family were received into the Christian Church, 
then planted at Philippi. 

The next case is that of the jailor of Philippi. 
Paul and Silas, having dispossessed a Pythoness, 
who had brought her masters much gain by 
soothsaying, were, on their complaint, appre- 
hended and cast into prison. But in the night, 
as they prayed and sang praises, an earthquake 
occurred, which shook the prison, loosed every 
man's bonds and threw open the doors. And 
the jailor, just then awaking out of sleep, would 
have killed himself, supposing the prisoners had 
escaped; but Paul cried out, "Do thyself no 
harm, for we are all here." Then he, suddenly 
impressed with a deep concern for his future 
salvation, which had been so greatly imperiled 
by his intended suicide, called for a light and 
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down 
before Paul and Silas, and said, "Sirs, what 
must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe 



Making Disciples. 171 

on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt he 
saved, and thy house." Now this jailor was a 
heathen, and yet he had obtained some know- 
ledge of the Jewish religion and of the custom 
of proselytical baptism. Paul and Silas were 
ministers of a gospel which extended the blessing 
of the Abrahamic covenant to all nations; and he 
might have heard them preach before they were 
cast into prison: and when they said, "Thou shalt 
be saved, and thy house," he must have under- 
stood by it, that he and his household, on his be- 
lieving, would be received into the Christian 
Church by baptism. And he was baptized, he and 
all his, straightway. His faith did not save his 
family from sin, or justify them before God. So 
far it could avail only for himself. But his faith 
saved them from heathenism, since they were 
brought along with him into the Christian 
Church. They became disciples of Christ, and 
through the means of salvation might obtain 
salvation. 

Next Paul mentions having baptized the 
household of Stephanas at Corinth. And as it 
is not without some special design that the bap- 
tism of these households is recorded, we should 
try to learn the lesson they teach. And, first, 
it shows that household baptism, which had 
obtained in the reception of proselytes into the 
Israelitish Church, was practised by the apostles. 
Second, It furnishes us with a rule or law of dis- 
cipleship by which children are received into the 
Church along with their parents. Third, It is 
a Divine warrant for the baptism of the house- 



172 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

hold wherever the head of the house becomes a 
disciple. The common objection, that it is not 
said that there were any little children in these 
households amounts to nothing; for the Greek 
word OC/.OC, has relation to offspring or children, 
and in most households there are small children; 
and the rule holds good for the baptism of all 
households, and of all belonging to them. The 
only exception in proselytical baptism was in 
case any one of the family was old enough to 
choose for himself, and refused to be baptized. 
This exception was probably made in such cases 
under the Christian economy: but little children 
or infants were never an exception under any 
dispensation of grace. 

The covenant of grace in Christ is the same 
under all dispensations. The first intimation of 
grace in the redemption of man was based upon 
it. That the seed of the woman should bruise 
the serpent's head indicated the birth into 
humanity of a Divine Redeemer, and through 
him the destruction of the devil and all his 
works. This very provision sanctified unto the 
Lord the offspring of man, and brought salvation 
to the woman through child-bearing. Hence, 
" children are a heritage of the Lord, and the 
fruit of the womb is his reward." And all the 
children of Adam, with the exception of the 
CainiteSj being, during the antediluvian age, 
under a Divine government, are called the " sons 
of God." The exception of the descendants of 
Cain was in consequence of his wickedness and 
apostacy in killing his brother, and instituting a 



Making Disciples. 173 

worldly government in opposition to the Divine, 
and his posterity were known as the children of 
men, and answered to the world. The sons of 
God constituted the professing Church of that 
age, embracing all infants as well as adults. 
The elect Church of that age were such only as 
believed and became heirs of the righteousness 
which is by faith. The corruptions of the sons 
of G-od or the professing Church became so gen- 
eral at last as to require the destruction of the 
world and a change of the physical condition of 
the earth by a deluge; after which JS'oah and his 
family, saved by the Ark, constituted the profess- 
ing Church, of which Shem became the king 
priest and was called Melchizedeck, king of 
righteousness, and afterwards, when the general 
rebellion and apostacy of the people under Xirn- 
rod compelled his removal, with a few adherents, 
to Palestine, king of Salem, that is king of peace. 
The decline of his dynasty made the calling of 
Abraham necessary for the preservation of a 
righteous seed. And the separation of his pos- 
terity by Isaac and Jacob constituted them the 
professing Church until the coming of the 
woman's seed. During all these changes of dis- 
pensation, the covenant remained the same, and 
embraced, in its outward manifestations, the 
infant children born of the members of the pro- 
fessing Church. And in its Israelitish form, 
proselytes, admitted from the heathen, were 
always accompanied by their familes. 

In the Christian dispensation, there is no 
change of the covenant. It is only a fuller 



174 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

demonstration of its provisions. It is the reve- 
lation of the mystery of Gentile admission to 
heirship with the Jew. It is the law and the 
prophets fulfilled. It is a dispensation of the 
same grace to all nations. In all former dispen- 
sations the covenant had respect to a professing 
Church and an elect Church. It is so now. The 
professing Church in all previous dispensations 
embraced little children. It is so still, as is proved 
by Christ's words, " Of such is the kingdom 
of heaven," and by the baptism of households. 
And it is made the duty of parents to bring up 
their children in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord; to teach them all that Christ has com- 
manded: hence, to do the most important part 
towards making them Christians in truth, to 
treat them as disciples, and implying their sub- 
jection to the initiatory ordinance of discipleship. 
Household religion and household baptism go 
together. Disciples in fact should be also disci- 
ples in form. The ritual of admission should 
precede the discipline of instruction. 

It is common with some persons to ridicule 
the baptism of children; to speak of it in the 
most contemptuous manner, and stigmatize it as 
Popery. But they might, with as much pro- 
priety, ridicule the religious instruction of chil- 
dren as a Popish superstition, and with as much 
consistency der\y them the teaching, as to deny 
them the baptism; for the same authority com- 
mands both. And in the order of making dis- 
ciples the baptizing is put before the teaching. 
And children are capable both of being baptized 



Mating Disciples, 175 

and taught. Christ says: " Suffer the little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them not; 
for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And in 
Isa. xl. 11, it is said, " He shall feed his flock like 
a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs in his 
arms, and carry them in his bosom," And 
David says, " Out of the mouth of babes and 
sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because 
of thine enemies; that thou mightest still the 
enemy and the avenger." 

Tertullian, who became a Christian in the 
second century, in his plea for delaying the bap- 
tism of infants, not only thereby proves that it 
was the practice of the Christians to baptize 
them; but he recites the words of Jesus, " Suf- 
fer the little children to come unto me, &c." as 
a Divine warrant for their baptism. But having 
imbibed a superstition in reference to the obliga- 
tion of sponsors, he favored a postponement of 
the ordinance until they could understand and 
choose for themselves. He was for reversing the 
order of Christ and the primitive Church on the 
subject. Which shall we follow? Christ or 
Tertullian? 

But, then, it may be said, that in Mark xvi. 
15, 16, u Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth 
and is baptized shall be saved; but he that be- 
lieveth not shall be condemned," excludes in- 
fants from the ordinance of baptism, for as 
much as they cannot believe. But there is 
nothing in this passage which requires us to 
understand it as meaning water baptism. On 



176 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

the contrary, the baptism here spoken of (not 
commanded) must be the baptism of the Holy 
Spirit. First, because it is not true that whoso- 
ever belie veth and is baptized with water shall 
be saved. Ananias and Sapphira believed and 
were baptized with water, but they were not 
saved. Simon the sorcerer believed and was 
baptized with water, and yet " had neither part 
nor lot in the matter." And Peter tells us that 
the baptism which saves us is not the " putting 
away of the filth of the flesh " — not water bap- 
tism, but the " answer of a good conscience," 
the baptism of the Spirit. Second, Because the 
signs of the Spirit's baptism are promised in con- 
nection therewith, verse 17, " And these signs 
shall follow them that believe. In my name 
shall they cast out demons; they shall speak 
with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; 
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not 
hurt them; they shall lay their hands on the 
sick and they shall recover." Here, both condi- 
tions are not repeated. It was only necessary to 
specify the first, u them that believe;" the second, 
and are baptized, is implied. The signs are in- 
disputably signs of the Spirit's baptism: for they 
are the miraculous endowments of the Spirit. 
The ministerial gifts and moral fruits, though 
not mentioned are doubtless included. Miracu- 
lous endowments were general in the first age 
of Christianity — the age of development, and 
were for signs to them that believed not. Yet 
neither they nor the ministerial gifts were 
universally bestowed: for all believers were not 



Making Disciples, YIH 

apostles, all were not prophets, all were not 
teachers, all did not work miracles, all had not 
gifts of healing, all did not speak with tongues, 
all did not interpret. 1 Cor. xii. 29, 30. But a 
manifestation of the Spirit was given to every 
man to profit withal. For to one was given, by 
the Spirit, the word of wisdom, to another, the 
word of knowledge; to another, faith; to an- 
other the gifts of healing; to another, the 
working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to 
another, discerning of spirits; to another, divers 
kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation 
of tongues. But all these were the workings of 
that one and self-same Spirit, dividing to every 
man severally as he will. For as the body is one 
and hath many members, and all the members 
of that one body, being many are one body; so 
also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all 
baptized into one body, and have been all made 
to drink into one Spirit. 1 Cor. xii. 7-13. The 
miraculous endowments of this baptism ceased 
when the gospel revelation was completed; but 
the ministerial gifts are still continued in the 
•Church, for the work of the ministry and Chris- 
tian edification. The moral fruits have always 
abounded in proportion to the degree of faith. 
The miraculous signs followed as long as signs 
were needed. The ministerial gifts follow in all 
whom God still calls to the ministry of the word. 
The moral fruits follow in every case down to 
the coming of Christ, though, alas! when the 
Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the 
earth? The passage, then, means that whoso- 
12 



178 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

*ver believeth and is baptized of the Spirit shall 
be saved. It does not refer to water baptism at 
all, and hence cannot be adduced as authority 
for excluding infants from that ordinance.* 

The answer of Philip to the Ethiopian Eu- 
nuch, when he inquired, What doth hinder me 
to be baptized? " If thou believes t with all thine 
heart thou may est," is adduced as authority for 
excluding infants from baptism, because it re- 
quires faith as an essential requisite thereto, and 
infants cannot believe. But this passage, Acts 
viii. 37, is of no authority. It is an interpola- 
tion. Almost all the critics declare it to be 
spurious. Griesbach has left it out of the text. 
Professor White says, ' 4 This verse most assur- 
edly should be blotted out." A. Campbell omits 
it from his New Testament. It cannot, then, 
be of any authority against infant baptism. 

* Even admitting the application of this passage 
to water baptism, it does not exclude infants; for it 
is not a command to baptize none hut believers. It 
is a simple statement that whosoever believeth the 
gospel and is baptized, shall be saved; but it does not 
follow that the faith must precede the baptism. It is 
Just as appropriate in the case of persons baptized in 
infancy, and who afterwards believe, as of those who 
"believe first and are subsequently baptized. It is not 
the baptism which saves them; nor the believing be- 
fore baptism which saves them: but the faith in the 
gospel' whereby they receive Christ Jesus the Lord. 
For if they believe not, they are condemned whether 
baptized or not. 



Making Disciples 1?^ 



CHAPTER IV. 

DIVERS BAPTISMS. 



Paul's statement, Heb. ix. 8-10, that in "the 
first tabernacle, while yet standing, there were 
offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not 
make him that did the service perfect, as per- 
taining to the conscience; which stood only in 
meats and drinks, and divers baptisms, and 
carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the 
time of reformation," settles the question in 
regard to modes of baptizing; for if, as Dr. 
Carson asserts, u ftaTrrtCco never expresses any 
thing but mode^ then the phrase dta<popot$ 
ftaTCZ co fiocs, emphatically declares that there 
were different modes of baptizing practiced in the 
ceremonial purifications of the Mosaic economy. 
The Greek ftanTc^a) is derived from flaxTa), 
which, as Dr. Carson says, " Except when it sig- 
nifies to dye, IT DENOTES MODE, AND NOTHING 

but mode." It signifies TO dye, to tinge, 
to color, but whether this is its primary or 
secondary meaning, is a disputed point, and lies 
at the very foundation of the question as to 
mode. Dr. Carson contends that to dye is the 
secondary meaning, and that it came to have 



ISO The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

this meaning because in dyeing them things 
were generally dipped; and that to dip is its 
only primary meaning. This rests, however, on 
the Doctor's opinion only. Another person, 
equally as learned, entertains a contrary opinion, 
and contends for it with equal earnestness and 
positiveness. But nothing is gained on either 
side. Such contentions do not promote the cause 
of truth. The meaning of words must generally 
be established by the use of them in the books 
or documents in which they are contained. And 
the use of this word flamco and its derivative 
fianrc^co, will, doubtless, furnish us with a clue 
to their meanings. 

In the first place, I concur with Dr. Carson in 
regard to the use of ftojzrco when it signifies to 
dye, to color, to stain, or to tinge; " that j^anrco 

SIGNIFIES TO DIE IN ANY MANNER," that is, 

things were dyed by being sometimes immersed 
or dipped into the coloring liquid; sometimes by 
the coloring liquid dropping upon them; some- 
times by its running upon them; sometimes by 
its being sprinkled upon them, and in any other 
conceivable mode. Dr. Carson says, that al- 
though dyeing, as a meaning of fianra), " arose 
from the mode of dyeing by dipping, yet the word 
has come by appropriation to denote dyeing with- 
out reference to mode. " But it is surely more in 
accordance with the supposed origin of this 
meaning that the idea of mode, which is almost 
invariably implied, should accompany it. True, 
an article may be said to be dyed without refer- 
ence to mode, as His hand was stained by the 



Making Disciples. 181 

spurting blood, the mode expressed accompanies 
and qualifies the act of dyeing. So when Hip- 
pocrates says of the coloring liquid, " when it 
drops upon the garments they are dyed," it can- 
not be said there is no reference to mode here. 
On the contrary, there is a distinct mode indi- 
cated, and the Dr. says of it, " This surely is not 
dyeing by dipping." No; but it is dyeing by 
dropping. So also in regard to the battle of the 
frogs and mice on the bank of a lake. The lake 
is said to be baptized, that is, tinged with the 
blood which flowed into it. Dr. Carson says, 
u The blood was poured into the lake, therefore 
it is thought bapto must signify ^opjour. But, in 
reality, it expresses neither pouring nor dipping, 
but dyeing without reference to mode. " He then 
justly characterizes Dr. Gale's conceit that the 
lake is, by hyperbole, said "to be dipped in 
blood," as " a monstrous paradox in rhetoric." 
"Never," says he, "was there such a figure. 
The lake is not said to be dipped in blood, but to 
be dyed with blood." But is there no reference 
to mode here? How then could the Dr. say that 
the blood was poured into the lake? There is a 
mode indicated, and it is not dipping, but POUR- 
ING, the Dr. himself being witness. 

But fto.7Cza) " except when it signifies to dye, de- 
notes mode, and nothing but mode," and what that 
mode is, the use of the word must determine. 
Dr. Carson says, it is to dip or immerse, and 
nothing else. But the examples he adduces, in 
my estimation, fail to sustain this dogma. That 
the word means to dip or immerse is certain; 



182 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

and he has taken much pains to prove what 
nobody questions; but that it expresses no other 
mode, is, I think, incorrect. In explaining a pas- 
sage in Suidas de Hierocle, which speaks of a 
person scourged before the tribunal till the blood 
flowed down his body, who, having baptized the 
hollow of his hand, sprinkled the tribunal, the 
Dr. translates it " and, having dipped the hollow 
of his hand," and says, "It may be difficult to 
conceive the process, but of the meaning of the 
expression there can be no doubt. Whatever 
was the way in which the operation was per- 
formed, the writer calls it a dipping of the hol- 
low of his hand." This is very disengenuous 
in one who professed to be sincerely seeking 
after the meaning of the word. He finds it used 
to designate a difierent mode, and yet he says 
the writer calls this mode a dipping. Here is his 
error. The writer does not call it a dipping. 
He calls it a baptism., The Dr. translates it dip- 
ping, notwithstanding the idea of dipping is 
foreign to the operation, indeed impossible under 
the circumstances. The thing to be ascertained 
is the mode in which the hollow of the hand was 
baptized, for this alone can determine the mean- 
ing of the word, which expresses nothing but 
mode. And this is not so difficult as the Dr. 
represents. The blood was trickling or running 
down his body, and he caught some of it in the 
hollow of his hand, and sprinkled it on the tri- 
bunal. The process was a natural one. He 
held his hand so that some of the blood was 
collected in the hollow of it. The blood was 



Making Disciples. 183 

shed or poured from his bleeding stripes into his 
hand, and thus the hollow of it was baptized. 
The mode was pouring; no other is expressed or 
implied. Dipping is out of the question. The 
word ftaTTTco is here employed to denote pouring, 
and nothing but pouring, as the mode by which 
the hollow of the hand was baptized. Bapto, 
then, signifies pouring as to mode. 

In Dan. iv. 33 and v. 21, we read til at the 
body of jSTebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, was 
" wet with the dew of heaven. 2 ' And the origi- 
nal Chaldaic word, according to Dr. Kobinson, 
signifies to dip, to wet, to moisten. The idea in- 
tended to be conveyed by it in this place doubt- 
less is, that the king's body was wet or moistened 
by the dew as he lay in the grass of the field. 
It cannot mean that it was dipped or immersed 
in the dew; for the dew descended upon it, and 
no matter how copious it might have been, it 
was not a dipping or immersion. Now the LXX. 
express this same idea in Greek, by the word 
ftaTZTco, They say, "his body was baptized 
with the dew of heaven," that is, it was wet or 
moistened by the dew descending upon it. Here 
the mode is not dipping, but falling upon, and in 
this way the king's body was baptized: as the 
LXX say, " and with the dew of heaven his body 
was baptized." Here, then, Bapto, as to mode, 
signifies to fall upon. 

In regard to these different significations of 
^aTizco, wlien employed in reference to mode, it 
appears to me most likely that the primary 
meaning of the word was to dye, to stain or color , 



184 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

in any manner; and that it hence came, legiti- 
mately, to express also the several modes where- 
by things are dyed, stained or colored. The 
word means to dye or color. This was generally 
performed by dipping, hence the word came to 
signify to dip or immerse as to mode. The word 
signifies to color or stain. This was sometimes 
done by sprinkling or pouring the coloring liquid 
upon the things stained: hence it came to signify 
sprinkling or pouring, as to mode; and then, 
to be employed to signify these several modes, 
without any reference to dying or coloring. It 
is doubtless more frequently employed to denote 
immersion than any other mode, but is not 
restricted to that mode only. 

The word /3a2m£a>, derived from ftaxra), 
never signifies to dye or to color. It goes not 
back to the primary signification; but relates to 
mode only; and with this restriction, is used to 
denote the same modes as j3a7izco. Hence in Heb. 
ix. the "divers baptisms " of verse 10 are by verse 
13 shown to include the sprinkling of the unclean 
person with the water of purification, as well as 
the bathing of his flesh in water, and the wash- 
ing of his clothes as required in Num. xix., and 
also the sprinkling of the blood of animals slain 
in sacrifice, and which were offered according to 
law. The baptism of the unclean person by 
sprinkling him with the water of separation 
seems to be the transaction referred to by Paul in 
1 Cor. xv. 29, in proof of the resurrection of the 
dead. He says, "Else what shall they do who are 
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? 



Making Disciples* 185 

why are they then baptized for the dead?" 
There is no other baptism for, or on account of, 
the dead mentioned in the Scriptures, but this, 
to which Paul could refer, and this is doubtless 
vested with a typical import which justifies the 
Apostle's argument; and appears to be as follows: 
The person who, by touching the dead body of a 
man, or a bone, or a grave, was rendered un- 
clean, and liable to be cut off from the congrega- 
tion of Israel, represented mankind in their 
relation to Adam, by whom came death, whose 
disobedience made all sinners, and brought upon 
all the death penalty. The cleansing of the 
unclean person from that defilement by the dead 
and his restoration to the congregation of Israel, 
represented the justification of mankind from 
Adam's sin through the obedience of Christ and 
their redemption from death. Hence in verses 
21, 22, Paul says, "For since by man came 
death, by man came also the resurrection of the 
dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive." But if the dead rise 
not, then this baptism for, or on account of, the 
the dead loses all its signification and becomes a 
meaningless mummery. Now the mode of this 
baptism was by sprinkling the unclean person 
with the water of separation. Hence, then, 
according to Paul, ftanrc^a) means to sprinkle, 
and sprinkling is baptism. 

In the baptism of the Holy Spirit there are 
frequent allusions to mode. For though there 
can be no mode in the operations of the Spirit, 
yet when the operations of the Holy Spirit are 



186 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

called a baptism, the idea of mode is associated 
with it. The mode is predicated of the baptism. 
Now* on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples 
were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and spake 
with other tongues, Peter said to the multitude 
who were attracted to the place, "This is that 
which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it 
shall come to pass in the last days (saith God) I 
will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," " and on 
my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour 
out in those days of my Spirit." Acts ii. 16, 18. 
Then again, in speaking of the baptism of Cor- 
nelius and his friends with the Spirit, he says, 
" The Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the 
beginning." Acts xi. 15: for, being poured out, 
it fell upon them. Hence it is said, " while 
Peter yet spake, the Holy Spirit fell on all them 
that heard the word. And they of the circum- 
cision were astonished, because that on the 
Gentiles also was poured out the gif L of the Holy 
Spirit." Acts x. 44, 45. Here it is shown that 
the Spirit was poured out, and so fell upon them. 
Now, as these terms do not belong to the opera- 
tions of the Spirit in which there is no mode, 
they must necessarily belong to the figure by 
which those operations are expressed; that is, to 
baptism, and hence show conclusively that 
pouring upon is baptism. We have thus found 
that baptizing was performed in different modes; 
that the word fiarcrc^co had, as is common with 
such words, acquired several meanings, and was 
employed to denote the ceremonial purifications 
of the Jews, which were performed in divers 



Making Disciples. 187 

modes; that sprinkling and pouring were such 
familiar modes of baptizing that the operations 
of the Spirit being promised in those terms, is 
thence called a baptism, and is said to be shed 
forth, to be poured out, and to fall upon the sub- 
jects of it. And this mode of operation was 
indicated by the Apostle, under the immediate 
inspiration of G-od, at the very time when the 
Christian ordinance of water baptism was being 
inaugurated. And this fact, taken in connection 
with the circumstances of the case, indicated 
that the three thousand then baptized, were bap- 
tized by pouring or sprinkling water upon them. 
The disciples were assembled in a room in a cer- 
tain house in Jerusalem, probably the house of 
Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was 
Mark, which was their place of meeting for re- 
ligious services. It is not likely that any room 
in that house was spacious enough to hold, all at 
once, the multitude of people who went there 
that day, attracted by the report of the wonder- 
ful gift of tongues bestowed on the disciples. 
This report was not sent all over the city by 
telegraph or by special messengers, so as to bring 
all the people together at the same time. It was, 
doubtless, spread in the ordinary way, and the 
people were all day coming and going, and the 
preaching and baptizing occupied the whole day. 
It does not appear that they left the house, or 
even the room in which they were, during the 
day. The room in which they were assembled 
was probably the dining room, generally the 
largest, and was furnished with the usual water 



188 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

pots, after the manner of the purifying of the 
Jews, and these probably furnished the water 
for baptizing. Hence it must have been done by 
sprinkling or pouring; immersion being out of 
the question. 

In the baptism of the Samaritans, Acts viii., 
no mention is made of their going to any river 
or stream of water; the inference is that they 
baptized the people in the place where they 
preached to them; and the city of Samaria was 
built on a hill where wells and cisterns supplied 
water for drinking and domestic purposes, but 
scarcely afforded facilities for immersion: and 
the probability is that they were baptized by 
sprinkling or pouring. 

The next case is that of the Ethiopian Eunuch, 
Acts viii. 26-40. He was a Jewish proselyte, 
and had been to Jerusalem to worship, and was 
returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading 
the prophecy of Isaiah, when T by Divine direc- 
tion, Philip, the evangelist, joined him, and from 
the Scripture which he read, preached unto him 
Jesus. And coming to a certain water, he bap- 
tized him. The locality of this water is suffi- 
ciently marked to enable travelers to identify it, 
and Mr. Samson, a Baptist, as well as others, 
describes it as a fountain boiling up at the foot 
of a hill, and absorbed again by the soil from 
which it springs." It was not a river; it was 
not a pool; it was only a spring in the desert, 
whose sandy soil drank up the water again im- 
mediately. The baptism, then, could not have 
been by immersion, and must have been by 



Making Disciples. 189 

pouring or sprinkling. But it is said they went 
down both into (®?C) the water, and came up out 
of (s#) the water. These words in the original, 
however, do not necessarily imply submersion 
and emersion; they may be rendered unto and 
from, and immersion, even if there had been an 
ocean of water, cannot be proved by them; much 
less when there was only a spring whose waters 
never amounted to a rivulet.* 

The baptism of Saul, Acts ix. 17, 18, is next, 
and thus stated: " And Annanias went his way, 
and entered into the house; and puttiug his 
hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord, 
even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way 
as thou earnest, hath sent me that thou mightest 
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy 
Spirit. And immediately there fell from his 
eyes as it had been scales; and he received sight 
forthwith; and arose and was baptized." Here, 
the baptism took place in the house of Judas, 
where Saul was; for there is no intimation that 
they left the house to go to any large stream of 
water to immerse. Judas was an Israelite, and 
had in his house the customary appliances for 
ceremonial purification, thus furnishing water 
sufficient for sprinkling or pouring, but not for 



* It may "be well to observe, in this connection, that 
if " going down into the water " and " coming up out of 
the water," prove immersion, then it proves the im- 
mersion of Philip as well as of the Eunuch, which none 
allow. Proving too much it proves nothing. The bap- 
tizing was an act altogether distinct from the going 
down unto the water and coming up from the water, 
and from the character of the water we infer the mode. 



190 The Doctrine of Baptisms. 

immersion. Saul was, then, most probably bap- 
tized by sprinkling or pouring. 

In the baptism of Cornelius, his family and 
friends, Acts x. 44-48, a phrase occurs which 
strongly corroborates our view respecting the 
mode. Peter said, " Can any man forbid ivater, 
that these should not be baptized, which have 
received the Holy Spirit as well as we?" Now, 
as Cornelius was a Gentile, he had not in his 
house the appliances for ceremonial purification 
customary among the Jews; hence in this case 
water had to be brought, as Peter's language 
indicates: for there is no intimation that they 
left the house to be baptized any where else. 
Besides, this water baptism was immediately 
preceded by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 
which, Peter says,/eZZ on them, thus indicating 
the mode for the administration of this ordi- 
nance. 

It is remarkable that in all the cases of Chris- 
tian baptism mentioned in the New Testament, 
the circumstances are adverse to the idea of im- 
mersion as the mode, and most strongly in favor 
of sprinkling or pouring. This is unaccountable 
on the supposition that immersion was the mode. 
Surely in that case some mention would have 
been made of their going to rivers and lakes, or 
of their having pools or cisterns in which to 
baptize. But not one word occurs in the whole 
New Testament history of this ordinance to 
indicate such a thing. And the probabilities, 
therefore, are all in favor of sprinkling or pour- 
ing as the mode of this ordinance. 



Making Disciples. 191 

But though I thus interpret the record given 
us in God's word, I, nevertheless, see no objec- 
tion to immersion in any case where there are 
suitable appliances for it, and that mode is pre- 
ferred. I do not think that it was the mode 
practiced by the apostles and earliest Christians, 
yet it is not anti-scriptural. The command is 
to disciple by baptism, but the mode of baptizing 
is not designated, because not essential to the 
validity of the ordinance. Sprinkling, pouring, 
and immersion are equally valid modes of bap- 
tizing, and any one baptized by either mode in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit, is legitimately made a disciple of 
Jesus, as far as water baptism can make him 
one. He is outwardly made a member of the 
Christian brotherhood, a pupil in the school of 
Christ. It is not in the nature of water baptism 
to make him a true Christian, be he a child or a 
man. Even faith does not make a man a true 
Christian, for faith without works is dead, being 
alone. And the demons believe and tremble. 
The true end of baptism as well as of faith is to 
bring us to the feet of Jesus to learn of him who 
was meek and lowly in heart, to take upon us 
his easy yoke and light burden, to observe his 
commandments and imbibe his Spirit. It is love 
and obedience combined with faith which make 
the Christian. Christ said, " Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will 
of my Father who is in heaven." It is the faith 
that works by love and thus purines the heart 



192 The Doctrine of Baptisms. . 

that brings us Into spiritual affinity with Christ. 
There are many believers who never get beyond 
profession in their discipleship. They are never 
baptized with the Spirit. They satisfy them- 
selves with the form of godliness, but deny the 
power thereof. 

To be true disciples of Christ and fellow heirs 
with him in his future kingdom and glorious 
reign, you must receive his word, and continue 
in it, steadfastly relying on him as your only 
and all sufficient Saviour. Denying all ungodli- 
ness and worldly lusts, you must live soberly, 
righteously and godly in this present evil world. 
Laying aside every weight and the easily beset- 
ting sin, you must run the race set before you, 
looking to Jesus. Renouncing the world and its 
vanities you must be baptized, renewed and led 
by the Spirit of God. Denying yourselves, you 
must take up the cross and follow Christ, sub- 
mitting to the baptism of fire — the discipline of 
trial and affliction; and preferring Christ before 
every bod} r and every thing, yea, before life itself, 
that his life may be the life of your soul; and that 
you may glorify G-od in your body and in your 
spirit, which are his. Then shall you be saved. 
Then shall your life be hid with Christ in God, 
and when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, 
you shall also appear with him in glory. Then 
shall you inherit eternal life. Then shall you 
live and reign with him in his kingdom forever. 

THE END. 



ADDEKDA. 



Lettei\s, &c. 



i. 

To one who had become convinced that immersion was not 
the only mode and adult believers were not the only sub- 
jects of baptism, as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ 
in Matthew xxviii. 19, 20. 

I congratulate you on the acquisition of more 
scriptural knowledge on the subject of baptism; 
especially if it tends, as I doubt not it does, to 
expand your Christian charity, and give you the 
experience of a closer union with other Chris- 
tians from whom you have previously differed 
on that subject. And I hope you will remember 
that "Knowledge puffeth up; but charity edi- 
neth," or buildeth up. The acquisition of 
knowledge without charity may be mischievous, 
making a person contentious and vain, dogmatic 
and proud; from which I pray that our good 
Lord may preserve you by giving you more of 
his meek and gentle Spirit. 

It is, in my estimation, a great fault with 

some, that they make baptism by immersion an 

essential requisite to church membership and 

Christian communion, thus virtually denying 

13 (193) 



194 Addenda. 

that any can be saved without immersion; un- 
less, indeed they allow that unimmersed persons 
may be members of Christ's true Church, which 
is his body, and yet must be excluded from their 
assembly and communion, because not immersed. 
And this would be not only to exalt immersion, 
which is a mode of baptism, above the ordinance 
itself, but to exalt it above regeneration or the 
renewing of the Holy Spirit: for, while excluding 
from their communion the members of the true 
Church, who are baptized into Christ by the 
Spirit, they receive into their communion thou- 
sands of mere professors, simply because they 
have been immersed in water. The logic of 
their doctrine and their practice is that no one 
can be saved except he be immersed. Any ad- 
mission to the contrary is a charitable incon- 
sistency. 

It appears to me that our Christian charity 
must not be restricted by even the Christian 
ordinance of baptism administered in any form, 
and much less by any particular mode thereof, 
Either there may be true Christians, u members 
of Christ's body, of his flesh and of his bones," 
who do not observe the ordinance of baptism at 
all, or Quakers are not Christians and cannot be 
saved. But if Quakers may be true Christians, 
being baptized by the Spirit, then persons may 
be saved without water baptism in any form. 
Hence water baptism, much less in any one 
mode, is not essential to salvation, and should 
not be made a term or condition of Christian 
communion. 



Addenda. 195 

Baptism is simply the ordinance of disciple* 
ship. Jesus said to his apostles, u All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, 
therefore, and disciple all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
Matt, xxviii. 18-20. All nations were to be 
made disciples because all were made nigh by 
the death of Christ, which abrogated the Israel- 
itish national covenant, u that the blessing of 
Abraham might come on the Gentiles (sdvq na- 
tions) through Jesus Christ." And the apostles 
were to make them disciples by baptizing them 
and teaching them. Baptizing them constituted 
them disciples in name or profession, and by this 
rite individuals and families were incorporated 
into the professing Church, thus separating them 
from the heathen and bringing them under the 
influence of Christian doctrine and discipline. 
The teaching which followed related to doctrines 
and duties, and was designed to be the means of 
salvation, " for after that, in the wisdom of God, 
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased 
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them 
that believe." 1 Cor. i. 21. " For the grace of 
God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to 
all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness 
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- 
eously, and godly in this present world; looking 
for that blessed hope, even the appearing of the 
glory of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus 
Christ." Tit. ii. 11-13. " Whom we preach, 



196 Addenda. 

warning every man, and teaching every man in 
all wisdom, that we may present every man per- 
fect in Christ Jesus." Col. i. 28. " And daily 
in the temple, and in every house, they ceased 
not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Acts v. 
42. These Scriptures, and many others of similar 
import, show that the teaching Christ com- 
manded was the most important part of the 
work of making disciples. By this teaching 
they were brought to the knowledge of the only 
living and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he 
had sent. Through this teaching faith was 
generated in their hearts; for faith cometh by 
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 
Hence persons might become Christians in the 
essentials of faith, hope, and charity without 
having observed the non-essential rite of water 
baptism. For as "he is not a Jew which is one 
outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which 
is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which 
is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose 
praise is not of men, but of God." Bom. ii. 28, 
29. So he is not a Christian, who is one out- 
wardly, neither is that baptism which is outward 
in the flesh; but he is a Christian who is one 
inwardly; and baptism is that of the heart, in 
the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is 
not of men, but of God. The strongest advo- 
cates of immersion, by their doctrine and their 
practice, admit this; for they insist that faith 
must precede baptism, and hence that a person 
must be born of God before he is a fit subject of 



Addenda. 197 

water baptism, unless the faith they insist upon 
is a dead faith; for if it is a living faith, then it 
unites the soul to Christ, and is imputed for 
righteousness. And " whosoever believeth that 
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. " 1 John v. 1. 
Now if a person may have this faith an hour, a 
day, a week or a month before being baptized 
with water, he may have it a year or ten years, 
and may die in this faith without being bap- 
tized with water. And so it follows, by logical 
inference from their doctrine and practice, that 
persons may be Christians, and live and die such, 
and be saved eternally without water baptism, 
and hence that water baptism is not essential to 
salvation, and ought not, therefore, to be made 
a condition of Christian communion. Our Chris- 
tian charity embraces the unbaptized Quaker as 
Well as the immersed Baptist. Our rule is fellow- 
ship with all who love Christ. 

I do not think there is any special virtue in the 
mode by which baptism is administered. But of 
all modes I prefer sprinkling and pouring, both 
of which appear to be fully justified by the 
Scriptures. In Isa. lii. 15, it is predicted that, 
after Christ should make atonement for sin by 
being marred in his sacrificial death, he "shall 
sprinkle many nations;" which, independent of 
all scholastic criticisms, imports, without doubt, 
the extension of the Abrahamic covenant to all 
nations, through his atoning sacrifice for sin. 
Paul in Heb. ix. 19, 20, says: "When Moses 
had spoken every precept to all the people, 
according to the law, he took the blood of calves, 



198 Addenda. 

and of goats, with water and scarlet wool, and 
hyssop, and sprinkled both the hook and all the 
people, saying, This is the blood of the testa- 
ment which God hath enjoined unto you." 
Thus Moses sprinkled one nation: and this 
sprinkling, as well as that mentioned in verse 13, 
is included in the divers baptisms spoken of in 
verse 10. Then one nation was the subject of 
those ceremonial sprinklings; for then a special 
covenant was made with the Israelites, by which 
all other nations were excluded as foreigners and 
strangers. But the prediction that Christ should 
" sprinkle many nations " refers to the admis- 
sion of the Gentiles into the household of God 
and to the commonwealth of Israel. And the 
term may apply to the rite of admission into the 
professing Church outwardly, by water baptism, 
as well as to the atonement for sin by the sprink- 
ling of the blood of Christ, whereby they are 
made members of the true Church, being bap- 
tized with the Holy Spirit. The command of 
Christ to his apostles to go and disciple all na- 
tions, baptizing them, fulfills its ceremonial appli- 
cation; and by the Spirit the teaching is made 
the means of fulfilling the spiritual application 
in the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. In 
Ezek. xxxvi. 25, it is predicted, that in Israel's 
future restoration, He will sprinkle clean water 
upon them, and they shall be clean, &c. And 
Paul, writing to the Hebrews, with evident allu- 
sion to this promise, says: " Let us draw near — 
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science, and our bodies washed with pure water, 



Addenda. 199 

holding fast the profession of our faith, &c." 
Here both the external and internal cleansings — 
the outward and inward baptism — are spoken of. 
And since in the inward baptism there is no 
mode, it follows that the term "sprinkled" is 
drawn from the outward baptism as a figure. 
Again, Peter, in giving an account of the admis- 
sion of the Gentiles into the Church says, " And 
as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on 
them, as on us at the beginning. Then remem- 
bered I the word of the Lord, how he said, John 
indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be bap- 
tized with the Holy Spirit." Acts xi. 15, 16. 
Here, then, as there is no mode in the baptism 
of the Spirit, the term fell upon, as indicating 
mode, is drawn from water baptism as a figure: 
for Peter said, " Can any man forbid water that 
these should not be baptized who have received 
the Holy Spirit as well as we?" The baptism 
of water*find the baptism of the Spirit are asso- 
ciated in the mind of Peter by inference, that 
since the Gentiles had been made subjects of the 
Spirit's baptism, they could not be denied the 
ordinance of water baptism. And if water bap- 
tism were immersion, and nothing but immer- 
sion, it is very strange that the baptism of the 
Spirit should be set forth by the terms pouring, 
sprinkling, shedding, and falling upon; especially 
as these terms express mode, which cannot be 
predicated of the baptism of the Spirit, and are 
only employed figuratively. As modes of bap- 
tism they are doubtless drawn from the divers 
baptisms of the Jewish economy, and show con- 



200 Addenda. 

clusively that the sprinkling or pouring of water 
upon the people was all that was necessary to 
constitute Christian baptism. 

I think immersion also is baptism, being 
one of the modes included in the divers baptisms 
mentioned by Paul. But it is not the only 
mode. And whether a person be sprinkled with 
water, or dipped in water, or the water be poured 
upon him, in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, he is properly bap- 
tized into the discipleship of Jesus Christ, and 
made thereby a member of the professing Church. 
And I think true Christian charity will recognize 
all such as members of the Church. And all 
bars to Christian communion founded on any one 
mode of baptism are in violation of Christian 
charity. 



Addenda. 201 



II. 

On Trine Immersion, in a letter to a friend who sent me 
Thurmarts Tract on that subject, with a request to meet 
the author in public debate. 

I have learned from the Scriptures that religion 
has both spirit and form, principles and cere- 
monies; and that while the principles and spirit 
are always the same, the forms and ceremonies 
have been frequently changed, according as G-od 
has seen best, for adaptation to times and circum- 
stances. The spirit and principles are, therefore, 
essentials; the forms and ceremonies are not 
essentials. And yet, I find that there are some 
who have the form without the spirit, and are 
very scrupulous about the ceremonies while lax 
in principles; as the Pharisees who " paid tithes 
of mint, anise and cummin," but neglected " the 
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy 
and faith.' 1 It has been so in all ages, and is so 
still. The ritualistic tendencies of the present 
times make more account of forms and cere- 
monies than of faith and good works. 

I think this tendency to give undue prominence 
to forms and ceremonies is largely developed in 
the various Baptist churches on the subject of 
immersion; and the tract you sent me is evidence 
in point. Here are 24 pages 8vo. occupied in 
trying to show that to be properly baptized a 
person must be immersed three times forward, 
and not backward. And this is all that the tract 
is designed to teach, and is insisted upon as if it 



202 Addenda. 

comprised the very essence of Christianity — that 
from this the churches have apostatized, and to 
this they must return to be true Christians. This 
appears to me to be the very quintessence of 
ritualism — the substitution of a mode of a rite 
for the spirit and power of religion. I suppose 
this is what you understand by following Christ 
and putting on Christ. 

Now if this mode were expressly enjoined in 
the New Testament, yet being only a mode of a 
rite, the prominence given to it would be not 
only unauthorized, but even condemned by the 
teachings of the Scriptures. How much more 
so, when there is not a word in the book about 
dipping, either backward or forward, either three 
times or once? The commission of Christ is, 
" Go ye, therefore, and disciple all nations, bap- 
tizing them," &c. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. And 
Peter said to the Jews, who on the day of Pen- 
tecost inquired, " What shall we do?" "Kepent 
and be baptized," &c, Acts ii. 38; and to the 
Gentiles in the house of Cornelius, " Can any 
man forbid water that these should not be bap- 
tized," &c. And they made disciples of both 
Jews and Gentiles, by baptizing them and teach- 
ing them according to the commission. But it 
cannot be shown that any of them were dipped 
in water, much less that they were dipped three 
times, and that forward. The attempts to prove 
that baptizo means to dip or immerse only, 
have, so far, signally failed. The usage of the 
word, both in the New Testament and in classic 
Greek, establishes the contrary. And all the 



Addenda. 203 

lexicons agree in giving different significations 
to the word. The presumption in all instances 
of water baptism mentioned in the New Testa- 
ment, is in favor of sprinkling or pouring. 

Mosheim, indeed, says that during the first 
century of the Christian era, " baptism was 
administered without the public assemblies, in 
places appointed and prepared for that purpose; 
and was performed by an immersion of the 
whole body in the baptismal font." But he 
gives no proof of this. The baptism of John was 
during the first century, and was administered at 
the river Jordan or at the springs of Enon, and 
not in "places prepared for it," nor in "bap- 
tismal fonts." And Jesus, as John's coadjutor, 
for a while baptized in the country of Judea, 
where there is no mention made of either river or 
spring, or "baptismal font." And there is no 
evidence that the three thousand baptized on the 
day of Pentecost left the room in which the 
apostles were assembled, to go to either river or 
spring, or place prepared for immersion by the 
erection of a " baptismal font." They were, 
doubtless, baptized in the house where they were 
converted by pouring or sprinkling water upon 
them; and for which purpose the water-pots 
found in every house, after the manner of the 
purifying of the Jews, would furnish sufficient 
water. And in the baptism of Cornelius and his 
friends, there is no evidence that they left the 
house to be immersed in some place prepared for 
that purpose. On the contrary, the language of 
Peter implies that water was brought to the 



204 Addenda. 

house, and that they were baptized in the room 
where they were assembled. He said, " Can any 
man forbid water that these should not be bap- 
tized," &c. There is no evidence that any 
other baptisms mentioned in the New Testament 
except that of the Ethiopian Eunuch and Saul 
of Tarsus, were administered without the public 
assemblies, and none whatever that there were 
places prepared for the purpose by having bap- 
tismal fonts in them. We regard this statement 
as his opinion, nothing more. We reject it just 
as we reject what he says, in the same para- 
graph, about " converts being baptized and re- 
ceived into the Church by those under whose 
ministry they embraced the Christian doctrine," 
because there is no proof of it. Indeed the evi- 
dence in the New Testament is against it, for 
Paul thanks God that he had baptized none of 
those converted by his ministry at Corinth, 
except Crispus and Gaius and the household of 
Stephanus, and that God sent him not to bap- 
tize, but to preach the gospel. We reject it just 
as we reject his statement in the same para- 
graph, that "there were doubtless several cir- 
cumstantial ceremonies observed in the adminis- 
tration of this sacrament for the sake of order 
and decency;" and for the reason he himself 
assigns, that "of these it is not easy, nor per- 
haps is it possible, to give a certain or satisfactory 
account, since on this subject we are too much 
exposed to the illusion which arises from con- 
founding the customs of the primitive times 
with those of succeeding ages." This tells the 



Addenda. 205 

whole tale. Many, finding that certain forms 
and ceremonies in connection with baptism 
existed in the latter part of the second, and in 
the following centuries, have hence inferred their 
derivation from the apostles. Under this "illu- 
sion " most of the superstitious adjuncts to bap- 
tism, made in "succeeding ages," have been 
retained by various Christian sects as though of 
Apostolic origin; each sect making its own selec- 
tion. 

Mosheim says that, in the second century, 
" Baptism was administered publicly twice every 
year." " The persons to be baptized, after they 
had repeated the Creed, confessed and renounced 
their sins, and particularly the devil and his 
pompous allurements, were immersed under 
water;" "after baptism, they received the sign 
of the cross, were anointed, and by prayers and 
imposition of hands, were solemnly recom- 
mended to the mercy of God, and dedicated to 
his service; in consequence of which they re- 
ceived milk and honey, which concluded the cere- 
mony." Here, also, we have evidence of the 
prevalence of superstitious opinions and prac- 
tices in the churches as early as the latter part 
of the second century. In the third century, he 
says, " no persons were admitted to this solemn 
ordinance, until, by the menacing and formida- 
ble shouts and declamation of the exorcist, they 
had been delivered from the dominion of the 
prince of darkness, and consecrated to the ser- 
vice of God." And "after the administration 
the candidates returned home, adorned with 



206 Addenda. 

crowns, and arrayed in white garments." In 
the fourth century, "baptism, was administered 
with lighted tapers, and in some places salt was 
thrown into the mouth of the person baptized, 
and a double unction was every where used, one 
preceding its administration and the other fol- 
lowing it." And the baptized, "were obliged 
to go clothed in white garments during the space 
of seven days. " He further says: " Many other 
rites and ceremonies might be mentioned here; 
but as they neither acquired stability by their 
duration, nor received the sanction of universal 
approbation and consent, we shall pass them 
over in silence." Among these was that of 
stripping the candidates of their clothing, and 
baptizing them in a nude state, preparatory to 
their being afterwards arrayed in white gar- 
ments. Such, in those early times, was the 
progress and culmination of superstitious prac- 
tices in connection with baptism: but not a 
vestige of these adjuncts is to be found in the 
New Testament, nor within a hundred years 
after Christ. 

It is a little singular that Mosheim makes no 
mention of trine immersion, nor of dipping 
backward or forward as having obtained in those 
early ages. Perhaps he included them among 
the "other rites and ceremonies " which "neither 
acquired stability by their duration nor received 
the sanction of universal approbation and con- 
sent," and which he passes over in silence. He 
never mentions trine immersion until he had 
occasion to speak of it as a difference between 



Addenda. 207 

the practice of the Particular and the General 
Baptists in the sixteenth century. His remark 
is: " They (the General Baptists) dip only once 
(and not three times, as is practiced elsewhere,) 
the candidates of baptism." This remark Mr. 
Thurman has so quoted and misstated as to make 
it appear that Mosheim has testified that single 
immersion was not in vogue until then. And 
yet Mosheim says that during the first century 
•'baptism was performed by an immersion of 
the whole body in the baptismal font," and an 
immersion is not three immersions. If there be 
any force in language, Mosheim testifies to single 
immersion, and immersion only during the first 
century. This perversion of testimony by your 
friend Thurman is enough to condemn his tract, 
and destroy all confidence in the other testimo- 
nies adduced by him. 

The following discrepencies on this question 
are found in this tract : Page 2, " The first case 
of single immersion which Mosheim thought 
worthy of notice in his history was that of the 
Baptist, which commenced in A. D. 1522." 
Page 3, " ' A triple immersion was first used and 
continued for a long time, ' that is from the apos- 
tolic age down to A. D. 1522; 'but it was after- 
wards laid aside, 5 " &c. Page 21, "The new 
mode of single immersion, being cradled in the 
ignorance of the Baptist in A.D. 1522, is not 
yet three hundred and fifty years old. Page 22, 
" The beginning of the new mode of single im- 
mersion is fixed for A.D. 1522." And yet on page 
12 he says, "Single immersion first commenced 



208 Addenda. 

with Praxias, about A. B. 200." And page 19, 
" Single immersion was first made valid by the 
authority of the bishop of Eome in A. D. 595." 
What reliance can be placed on the statements 
of such a writer? None. 

To prove his theory of the frequentative mean- 
ing of baptizo, he, on page 14, misquotes Carson 
as adducing an example from Hippocrates for 
this purpose, c c thus ' having dipped (bapto) it 
into the oil of roses, let it be applied during the 
day. ' But if this is to be repeated, then, drop- 
ping the word bapto, he employs the word bap- 
tizo; thus ' if it should be too painful, baptize it 
again '. (Carson p. 42, 46.) According to this 
example, bapto means to dip, and baptizo means 
repeated dippings, and this is the only distinction 
between the two words." Now what are we to 
think of the fairness and veracity of such a 
writer, when we find that Carson adduces the 
example to prove the very reverse? His lan- 
guage is, "He (Hippocrates) is speaking of a 
blister which was first to be dipped in the oil of 
roses, and if, when thus applied, it should be 
too painful, it was to be dipped again." (The 
first dipping is expressed by bapto, the second by 
baptizo), " This shows that in the radical signi- 
fication of dipping, these words are perfectly 
of the same import." Instead of giving any 
countenance to the theory of the frequentative 
meaning of verbs ending in zo, Carson repudiates 
it as u a difference of meaning which is merely 
fanciful." He says, "Some have alleged that 
the termination zo makes baptizo a diminutive; 



Addenda. 209 

but utterly without countenance from the prac- 
tice of the language. Others have erred as far 
on the other side, and equally without authority 
make baptizo a frequentative. The termination 
zo has no such effect as either class of these 
writers suppose; and the history of the word, 
both in sacred and classic use, justifies no such 
notions." Carson, p. 18. Besides misquoting 
Carson, Mr. Thurman grossly wrests the ex- 
ample itself; for to dip again does not signify to 
dip frequently j but only once. 

That trine immersion was early practised in 
the Christian Churches is admitted, though 
Mosheim does not mention it; but that it had 
any higher authority than other superstitious 
practices of the second and third centuries, is not 
capable of proof. Carson says, "It is true, in- 
deed, that early church history shows that bap- 
tism was performed by three immersions; but it 
is equally true, that this is neither scriptural, 
nor indicated by the termination of the verb." 
Carson, p. 18. 

Trine immersion cannot be proved by the 
formula of Christian baptism, unless Mr. Thur- 
man's incoherent logomachy is to be taken as 
proof. It does not follow that in making dis- 
ciples the apostles were to baptize them three 
times, because they were to baptize them in or 
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, 1 Cor. x. 2, that 
the Israelites were baptized (baptizo is used) s*C 
into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Cer- 
tainly they did not pass under the cloud and 
14 



210 Addenda. 

through the sea frequently, but only once. And 
into Moses simply signifies into the truth as 
taught by Moses. And into the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
signifies into the truth concerning the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It indicated 
the renunciation of paganism and the profession 
of Christianity; and implied that those who 
were made disciples by being baptized were also 
to be taught the truths of the Christian religion 
in relation to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 
But to infer three dippings from this formula is 
a mere fancy. 

As to the offer of $5000 to any one who can 
show that he is mistaken in supposing that trine 
immersion was the apostolic mode, it is evidently 
a mere brag to catch the ignorant who may be 
influenced by such things. This is evident from 
the manner in which he has guarded his offer by 
impracticable conditions. I therefore respect- 
fully decline any public debate with this author, 
though I should have no objection to a friendly 
discussion through the press, if I had the time 
to spare for such a purpose, and the question 
was really worth contending about. But, I am 
perfectly willing that you and your friend Thur- 
man, and as many more as choose, shall have 
the liberty of being dipped three times or three 
times three, either backward or forward; and I 
shall not exclude you from Christian fellowship 
and communion as long as you do not deny the 
Lord that bought you. 



WHY I BAPTIZE INT ANTS. 



1. Because the Scriptures show that, from the 
beginning of redemption, and under every dis- 
pensation of grace, infants were included along 
with their parents in the professing Church. 

2. Because the infants of Abraham and his 
seed were included in the Abrahamic covenant, 
and were sealed as members of the professing 
Church. 

3. Because infants were baptized along with 
their parents unto Moses in the cloud and in the 
sea by a national baptism divinely administered. 

4. Because infants were baptized along with 
their parents and received into the Israelitish 
professing Church by proselytical baptism. 

5. Because infants must have been baptized 
along with their parents, when ''Jerusalem and 
all Judea and all the regions round about Jordan 
were baptized " of John the Baptist. 

6. Because the gospel is a simple extension of 
the Abrahamic covenant to all nations, and that 
covenant included infants. 

7. Because Jesus said, " Suffer the little chil- 
dren and forbid them not to come unto me, for 
of such is the kingdom of heaven," thus recog- 
nizing them as belonging to the professing 



212 

Church then, and indicating that they must also 
under the gospel dispensation. 

8. Because the commission Christ gave his 
apostles to disciple all nations by baptizing and 
teaching them, includes infants as part of the 
nations. 

9. Because households were received by bap- 
tism into the Christian Churches, and infants 
compose a part of households. 

10. Because Paul and Silas said to the jailer 
at Philippi, u Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and thou shalt be saved and thy house," or 
family, including infants; and they baptized him 
and all His. 

11. Because household religion and household 
baptism, including infants, go together. 

12. Because infants are to be taught, and, 
therefore, should be baptized: the ritual of 
admission by Christ's . commission precedes in 
order the discipline of instruction. 

13. Because the simplicity, humility, and 
docility of infants so eminently qualify them for 
discipleship, that Jesus sets them forth as exam- 
ples for all adults who would become his dis- 
ciples. 



21b 



WHY I BAPTIZE BY SPRINKLING OR 
POURING. 



1. Because the baptism of Israel, when pass- 
ing under the cloud and through the sea, must 
have been by sprinkling or pouring, or both. 

2. Because the divers baptisms of the Mosaic 
ritual were generally performed by sprinkling. 

3. Because the great multitudes baptized by 
John the Baptist make it evident that he could 
only do it by sprinkling or pouring. 

4. Because it was predicted that Christ should 
" sprinkle many nations, " which applies to water 
baptism literally, according to his commission, 
"Go disciple all nations, baptizing them," &c, 
or figuratively to the baptism of the Spirit, or to 
both, and shows that the baptism he commands 
was to be performed by sprinkling or pouring. 

5. Because the baptism of the Spirit is always 
set forth figuratively by the terms pouring, and 
shedding forth, and falling upon, and these terms 
are drawn from the modes of water baptism, as 
there is no mode in the baptism of the Spirit: 
hence water baptism must have been by sprink- 
ling or pouring. 

6. Because the baptism with water of three 
thousand persons at Jerusalem on the day of 



214 

Pentecost, in the place where the disciples were 
assembled, and the baptism of Cornelius and his 
friends in his house at Cesarea, must have been 
by sprinkling or pouring. 

7. Because there is no instance of baptism 
mentioned in the New Testament which was not 
in all probability performed by sprinkling or 
pouring. 

8. Because the Greek word, Baptizo, not only 
means to immerse, but also to sprinkle and to 
pour upon, as is proved by its use, and confirmed 
by all the lexicons. 

9. Because to baptize by sprinkling and pour 
ing is more in accordance with the nature and 
genius of the gospel dispensation, than immer- 
sion, inasmuch as thereby the command of 
Christ can be obeyed in all cases, while by immer- 
sion it cannot. 



215 



BAPTISMS. 

Jesus, 't is thy command, 
u Kepent, and be baptized ;" 

Teach us to know and do whate'er 
Is in these words comprised. 

Pour out thy Spirit, Lord ; 

Baptize us from above, 
And cleanse and purify our hearts 

Through faith, which works by love. 

Let us the washing prove 

Of water by the Word, 
That, sanctified and cleansed, we may 

Be ready for the Lord : 

That, washed with water pure, 

Our bodies may be clean ; 
And, from an evil conscience purged, 

Our hearts be free from sin. 

The sprinkling of thy blood 
Can make us white as snow ; 

We claim the gracious promise, Lord, 
Which says, It shall be so. 

With water, Spirit, fire, 

Baptized, O may we be, 
And fitted by true holiness 

To live and reign with thee. 



COMMENDATIONS. 



From A. "Webster, D. D., of the Maryland Con- 
ference Methodist Protestant Church. 
" Having read your work on Baptisms, I ap- 
prove of it cordially, and believe it will be very 
useful. The subject is presented in a fresh and 
interesting manner ; tending to assist the inex- 
perienced to discriminate between the ceremo- 
nials and the substance of Christianity. I shall 
be happy to hear of a large circulation of your 
book." 



From J. T. Cooper, D. D., of the United Pres- 
byterian Church, Philadelphia. 

" I have given the three numbers of your work 
entitled 'Doctrine of Baptisms' a careful reading. 
Although not prepared to commit myself to every 
sentiment it expresses, or the meaning it attaches 
to every passage of Scripture, I have no hesita- 
tion in saying that I regard the discussion as 
eminently candid, clear, Scriptural, and conclu- 
sive in its reasonings. I sincerely hope it will 
be presented to the public; as I am well per- 
suaded that it is calculated to assist the honest 
inquirer after truth in his effort to attain a right 
understanding of an interesting and important 
subject." 

217 



218 

From Edward Hawes, D. D., Central Congre- 
gational Church, Philadelphia. 

"Dear Brother — In your work on 'Bap- 
tisms ' I think you have been guided to correct 
conclusions. Your strongest desire has evidently 
been to know the truth, and your reasonings 
seems to me to be unusually fair, scriptural, and 
conclusive. It is a sad thing that after eighteen 
centuries have passed, so many are still, as 
some were in the days of Christ, wholly or in 
part occupied with non-essentials, and so waste 
strength that ought to be used in opposing the 
enemies of our Lord. If your book shall, as I 
trust it will, help hasten the day when this shall 
cease to be a fact, the labor which its prepara- 
tion must have cost will have been well spent. 
You have laid many seekers after a right under- 
standing of God's word under great obligation." 

From C. Cook, D. D., of the Philadelphia Con- 
ference, M. F. Church. 

"I have read the manuscript of a work you 
propose to publish on the ' Doctrine of Baptisms, ' 
with deep interest, and shall rejoice to see it in 
print. The novelty of your manner of treating 
an old subject gives it a special claim to attention. 
Many of the illustrations are very striking, the 
collocations of Scripture give the text a peculiar 
force, and the spirit permeating every page en- 
titles the book to favor. Its publication will lay 
the honest inquirer after truth under lasting 
obligations. 

" Wishing you great success in this effort to 
shed light on a subject that has elicited much 
acrimonious controversy, and yet has left in 
perplexity many a sincere seeker after the good 
and right way, I am, dear sir, yours fraternally." 



219 

From TV. Collier, D. D., President of the Pitts- 
burg Conference of the Methodist Church. 

"The perusal of your work, 'Doctrine of Bap- 
tisms,' has impressed my mind with its candor, 
perspicuity and scripturalness. It forcibly dis- 
criminates between the essentials and non-essen- 
tials of religion, and shows conclusively the 
reference, application, and meaning of the nu- 
merous passages of Scripture on the subject. A 
new and interesting aspect is given to the dis- 
cussion, and its reasonings are strong and con- 
vincing. Believing it to be well adapted to sub- 
serve me cause of truth and promote godliness, 
I hope it may soon be published, and have a large 
circulation." 

From T. Stork, D. D., of the Lutheran Church, 
Philadelphia. 

u As much of your work as I could find time to 
read, impressed me favorably. I think, perhaps, 
you have drawn the lines between what is ritual 
and what is ceremonial in religion, a little too 
sharp. TVe must in some way have the body of 
Christ that we may have his Spirit. The whole 
economy of religion in its adaptation to our 
humanity, pays appropriate deference to what is 
outward and formal. Perhaps, however, your 
sharp discriminations are needful to touch and 
wake the consciousness of mere formalism into 
some sort of life and reality. Your discussions 
on infant baptism, and the relations of children 
to the Church, seem to me the most important as 
well as the freshest and most conclusive. It 
would not be candid to express an absolute con- 
currence in every sentiment, and every exegesis 
m your book, for on some points I differ from 
you ; but it is not on any thing essential to life 



220 

and godliness. But altogether, your work dis- 
plays great research and ability, is eminently 
biblical and practical ; and can not fail, when 
published and read, to prove a great success in 
the vindication of the truth as it is in Jesus, and 
the confutation of error. You have our best 
wishes for a rich reward of your noble aims and 
patient toils, in this work of faith and labor of 
love." 



From T. W. J. Wylie, D. D., of the Beformed 
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia. 

"Rev. and Dear Sir— I have examined with 
considerable attention the several Treatises on 
Baptism which you were pleased to put into mj 
hands, and I am glad to say that they appear to 
me to possess unusual merit. I am gratified to 
find the subject presented in the aspect in which 
you treat it, for after all, the great error of our 
Baptist brethren is not so much their position in 
regard either to the subjects or the mode of bap- 
tism, as it is that they give such undue promi- 
nence and importance to the formal and the out- 
ward to the comparative neglect of the inward 
and the spiritual. I observe, however, that while 
you show so well that the only essential baptism 
is the baptism of the Spirit, you also demonstrate 
the errors of making immersion the only mode, 
and professing believers the only subjects of this 
sacrament. Your arguments are eminently 
Scriptural, and presented in such a clear, candid, 
and cogent manner, that they must make an 
impression on all who will read them. In some 
of your views I do not concur, but these are of 
minor importance. I hope your work will soon 
be published, and obtain the wide circulation it 
deserves, #nd I hope this because I think it is 
called for and will do good." 



Redemption in Pi^ophecy. 



A Compendious Exhibition, on a Plan Entirely 
New, of the Divine Purpose in the Kedemp- 
tion and Government of the World. By John 
G. Wilson, Minister of the Word of God. 
Third Edition Eeady for the Press. 12mo. 
500 Pages, in Cloth, $1.50. 



COMMENDATIONS. 

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of Gospel Liberty. 

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experimental and practical piety." — T. H. 
Stockton. 

" The reader will find a great deal of gold, and 
but little sand." — George Brown. 

" He will find so much of the pure and true 
spirit of Christianity, that if he does not shut 
the book a better man, the fault is heavily his 
own."— Prof. Wilson. 

" He will find close, vigorous, earnest thought, 
and much too of the spirit of Christianity." — 
Banner of the Covenant. 



The Sabbath and its Loi\p. 

BY JOHN G. WILSON. 

2mo. 180 pp. 60 cents. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

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the theme." — North American and United States 
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It will do good wherever circulated. — Christian 
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a very entertaining book. " — Methodist Protestant. 



The Gospel of the Epiphany 

AND 

THE BKAK'CH OF DAVID. 

BY JOHN G. WILSON. 

18mo. 72 pp. 30 cents. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

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Memorial of Thos. H. Stockton, D.D. 

BY JOHN G. WILSON. 

18mo. 72 pp. 25, 30, and 50 cents, without 
Portrait; and 40 and 60 cents, with Portrait, 
according to style of binding. 



" To all the admirers of the late Mr. Stockton, 
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"It is earnest, simple and unpretending — like 
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THE 

Doctrine of Baptisms. 

IN THREE PARTS. 

L PUTTING OK CHEIST. 

II. THE THEEE WITNESSES. 

III. MAKIKG DISCIPLES. 

A Compendious Scriptural Digest of this 
Question. 

BY JOHN G. WILSOK. 

16mo. 224 pp. Cloth SI. 00. (See Commenda- 
tions.) 



Any of these works may be ordered from 
Daughaday & Becker, Publishers, Philadel- 
phia, Pa. ; from the Methodist Publishing House, 
Springfield, Ohio, or from the author, John G-. 
Wilson, 1409 Hanover Street, Philadelphia, 
Pa., and will be sent, on the reception of the 
prices named, by mail, postage paid. Usual dis- 
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